


Shades of Grey: Till All Are One

by CavalierConvoy



Series: Primax 984α-ﬡג, Iteration 1: Brash [1]
Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)
Genre: Banter, Canon-Typical Violence, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Ghosts, Haunting, Heist, MacGuffins, Medical Procedures, Mercenaries, Minor Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Possession, Space Battles, Starscream being Starscream, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25944175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/pseuds/CavalierConvoy
Summary: A mercenary with no future takes one last job, but her haunted past has other plans.TIMELINE NOTE: (revised) Everything up to but not including "The Return of Optimus Prime" is canon and has happening in this fic universe; "Till All Are One" takes place just after "Five Faces of Darkness."
Relationships: Starscream & Original Cybertronian Character(s)
Series: Primax 984α-ﬡג, Iteration 1: Brash [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882957
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. The Oath

**Author's Note:**

> 16 August 2020: I'm doing it. I'm posting my first Transformers fanfic in all its raw and likely unedited horror. I originally posted this on Fanfiction.net in 1999, did an edit, and reposted in 2002. A fair warning: there's going to be obsolete terms and pop culture that did not age well, but seeing that this fic could legally drink and regret its life decisions, I'm not going to change them up. 
> 
> So to preserve the original feel of reading fanfiction back in the late 1990s, early 2000s, here's the disclaimer we used to post before our fanfics: 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Transformers is property of Hasbro. No infringement intended. Artemis, Cavalier, Darxtar, the members of Sky Patrol, Scat, Frag, and Rustedge and other ones you don't recognise are property of myself. Desertstrike belongs to Jenny DeSalme, and Ranger belongs to David Bumford. Zodiac was created by myself, Mary "Stormy" Pletsch, and Dylan P. Blacquiere. Stormrave, Ritterkruez and Lili Marlene were created by Stormy.

***  
Prologue  
Polyhex

The Decepticon Hall of Leaders stands vacant now, since the Autobots took control of Cybertron once again, driving the Decepticons to the dead planet of Charr.

Amongst the cracked walls of the amplitheatre, statues of leaders gone by stand guard.

Two leaders are not represented, however; Megatron, the mighty tyrant, never had a statue raised in his honour, nor did his direct successor, Galvatron, who many believe is one and the same.

There is one, represented here, that many would not consider to be a true leader of the Decepticons. It is often argued: one side sees this one particular leader highly intelligent, shrewd, unafraid of voicing his opinions and, even in death, proved that indeed that guile and wit can overcome brute force that Megatron practiced, whilst those who knew him see him as a brash, arrogant egotist whose intelligence covered all grounds save when to keep his mouth shut.

His monument, left untouched, is at the head of the Hall of Leaders, where all the dignitaries before him stare blindly at his place.

However, unlike the stone visages of those passed before him, Air Commander Starscream is depicted as two blackened and warped legs surrounded by oxidized metallic shards, a reminder by Galvatron that those who stand against him will be crushed.

Two sets of footsteps echo through the hallway leading to the amplitheatre, one thunderous, the other soft, as two more Cybertronians, both wearing the Decepticon sigils upon their breast, enter the moonlit chamber.

The matte black femme ventures further towards the dais, even after her companion halts, her steps now uneven, faltering, as she pushes towards the remains of the dead Air Commander.

"We gotta make this quick, girl," the other robot, a tall and bulky male, royal blue with silver and dark red trim, hisses. "Elita might not mind you sneaking about here, but me, I'm not on her favourites list."

"I won't be long," she whispers back, her voice deep but commanding, though emotions waiver through her tone. "I...just need to say goodbye."

"What did you see in him, anyway?" the male demands suddenly, crossing his arms over his massive chest. "Of all the other flyboys, why him?"

"He wasn't always like that. There was a time, before the Great War, before we lost Skyfire..." she sits on the steps leading up to the dais, leaning on one palm as she picks up a scrap of charred red fabric. "Wishful thinking, I suppose? It wasn't the same after the War started, but I felt it was my duty to make sure he wasn't slagged for shooting off his mouth." Sighing heavily, she stares up at the remains. "Looks like I failed miserably."

"He was responsible for his own decisions, girl; not you," her companion strides closer, his step nearing anger.

"But ultimately, it was Megatron who put those damn ideas in his head," she protests, her ice blue optics, unheard of in the Decepticon ranks, widening, pleading.

"Megatron used Skyfire's disappearance and Starscream's depression to warp him to-" her hand waves with spite, indicating the dias and its contents. "-To that."

"Girl, listen to me," the blue Transformer climbs the steps just below her, taking her shoulders in almost a fatherly manner. "Starscream had to allow Megatron to do that to him. He's just as much at fault as Megatron. You weren't responsible for his actions no more than he was responsible for your's. Now, say your goodbyes and let's head home."

Her shoulders shake somewhat in what her companion took to as anger.

Finally, she stands; he follows suit as she walks up the rest of the stairs, gazing down at Starscream's remains.

"See ya around, Flyboy," she finally chokes out as her face contorts into at first sadness, then, slowly, a cold anger as her optics narrow. "I will avenge you; I promise. For what Megatron did to you to your spark, and what Galvatron did to your shell."

Pausing, she bows her head once more, then turns on her heel to return to her companion's side.

"Feeling a little better?" he questions as he takes her arm gently, spotting her down the stairs.

"A little...not really," she answers with a heavy sigh.

"Well...you know me, girl...always trying to help."

"I appreciate it, old man; really, I do."

"I know you do. And against my better judgment, I may be able to help you even more to keep your promise to that good-for-nothing prick you kept at your side."  
She peers up at him through the corner of her optic, silently, inviting him to tell her more.

"Galvatron...had contacted us for a job," he continues. "He's already paid half for it. We had considered sending Minnie...but maybe you should have it."

The femme pauses, digesting the information.

"You mean..."

"You did slag for him when he was Megatron under us. He's sure as hell going to know you, though. And he will know your tactics, your loyalties-" this, the male nods his head to the dais, "-and he ain't going to let you step out of line if you do take this up. I don't want to see you end up like Starscream because of this. I'm only telling you this because I know how much it means to you to keep promises."

"Thank you," she mouths, a broad but sad smile forming on her face.

"We might have to get Minnie to help you after all...what Galvatron wants is on Sol III..."

***

_Time has no meaning when you are dead, as I soon found out. Everything seems to be in slow motion, or played back at insanely high speed. However, the events transpiring before the remains of my shell interest me, awakening me from my eternal slumber.  
_

_Darxtar...a Decepticon who refused to take a side; rather, he ran a neutral courier service between enemy lines. Shockwave put an end to that a couple of centuries prior to my death; he had since taken residence on Sirius II, a commerce planet four light years from Earth. He never liked me. The feeling was mutual.  
_

_Artemis...a childhood sweetheart, I will admit, now a loyal subordinate of mine with no intention of allowing my death to go unpunished. She has yet to outlive her usefulness; every time she comes so dangerously close, she pulls another trick out of her gauntlet.  
_

_However, Galvatron knows of her tactics, true. He would not allow her to get close to him.  
_

_I will have to observe closer._


	2. Ice Blue Eyes That Betray The Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heist went without a hitch, but something is amiss. Why would anyone want an artifact destroyed beyond use and repair?

Portland, Oregon  
Earth  
AD 2006

ARTEMIS.

My name is Artemis, the sentient reminded herself as she pressed her metal body to the wall. Her matte black paint hid her in the shadows adequetly enough from those mentally challenged Dinobots, but if someone with brains thought of searching the alley, she'd have to bolt.

Suddenly, a burst of blaststone exploded at her feet. Shielding her optics, she could barely make out the form of one of the fierce Dinobots, Grimlock.

"There you are, that we saw!" came the sing-song voice of that pipsqueak, Wheelie, perched on top of Grimlock's head.

Artemis smiled grimly.

"Good job, kid," she whispered, "but the question is, can you catch me?" And, with that, she quickly transformed into her vehicular form, a sleek black musclecar straight from Earth's past. Her motor snarled loudly, echoing in the alleyway. Flipping on her high beam halogen lights, she shifted into first.

Grimlock roared as his optical sensors overloaded, shielding his eyes from the glare. Wheelie clutched onto the Dinobot's neck as the Decepticon clipped his flank, offbalancing him.

Artemis laughed sardonically as she peeled out into the deserted street, Grimlock falling to his side. Transforming back into humanoid form, the Dinobot took off into the opposite direction, scooping up the disorientated tiny Autobot en route.

_Running back to Rodimus Prime_ , she smirked mentally, careening onto the street leading to the starport to rendezvous with Soundwave. The awesome Grimlock falling to a simple mercenary. Hmph.

A powerfully-built SUV painted with red and yellow flames suddenly overtook her on her right and screeched to a halt, forcing Artemis to turn sharply, avoiding collision.

She swore under her breath, transforming out of her vehicle form; the SUV did the same, standing a head taller than her.

"Rodimus Prime," she grinned her grim smile. "So I finally meet the all-mighty successor of Optimus."

Another Autobot, a huge white and blue military transport trailor, pulled up behind the Decepticon, transforming once it rolled to a stop. To this one, she granted a grim smile.

"Give it up, Decepticon; you're outnumbered," the Autobot leader ordered sternly.

"Do you truly think I would give up so easily?" she retorted, glancing occasionally at Ultra Magnus back to Rodimus Prime. "You must know I'm not a typical Decepticon."

And with a wink as her final warning, she quickly legsweeped the much larger Autobot, sending Ultra Magnus off-balance. Transforming back into her powerful musclecar form, she deftly shifted gears, slipping away from her two adversaries. Rodimus Prime quickly took up pursuit.

Artemis sized up the situation as she navigated at high speeds out of the city to the highway. She wasn't that much smaller than the Autobot leader; as much as she hated to admit sometimes, she was a big girl. Apparently, her vehicular form's earthly counterpart she boasted hadn't been made by the humans in forty years. Rodimus, however, was a much newer model, appearing much like the brand new GMC Suburban with many modifications.

However, she had something he didn't.

Constant upgrades from the best mechanics on Sirius II, Earth, and Cybertron, including the hundred extra horsepower her engine could pump out.

At speeds reaching almost two-hundred kilometres per hour on a deserted stretch of Interstate 5 Southbound, the guardrails only a blur on each side of the road, she then remembered the secondary reason why she accepted Galvatron's mission.

New brake upgrade.

Ahead, about five-hundred meters and closing fast, was Kup, along side with the Dinobots, blocking off the only road to the starport.

Not enough time to brake, Artemis transformed en route, hitting the ground running.

"In all my years-" Kup commented under his breath just before she tackled him, shoving him into Grimlock to make room for her breakaway. Slag whipped his spiked tail, but a second too late as it cleared her leg and smacked it into Sludge's great barrel chest.

"Why Slag hit Sludge?" Sludge whined, butting the triceratops Dinobot in the midsection.

"She's getting away, you numbskulls!" Kup shouted to the two as Rodimus screeched to a stop in front of the warring Dinobots.

"Swoop! Follow her!" He barked at the pterodactyl Dinobot as he transformed back into automaton.

"Swoop follow!" Swoop squawked, tailing the black transformer with undying loyalty.

"That couldn't be-?" Kup's demand to himself trailed off as he worked out a kink out of his shoulder approaching the Autobot leader.

Rodimus Prime only shook his head as he tapped a communicator link.

"Rodimus Prime to Blaster!"

_"Blaster here, Rodimus! What's shakin'?"_ The deejay-esque voice of the Autobot communications chief responded.

"We're gonna need backup at the Oregon Starport ASAP!"

_"Roger that, Rodimus! Skylynx, Arcee, Springer, and Blurr are on their way! Autobot City out!"_

"Rodimus out." Prime depressed the link and turned to Kup just as Ultra Magnus caught up to them. "You two, we're heading to the starport. If anyone knows who we're up against, any information will be appreciated."

As Kup and Rodimus transformed into vehicle, Ultra Magnus answered.

"Her name's Artemis, a mercenary." the soldier retorted as they speed down the highway, his voice betraying a slight distaste.

"That's what I thought," Kup, if he had been in humanoid form, would have snapped his fingers; his own tone take a more saddened note. "She was a courier-for-hire for most of the war on Cybertron, mostly delivering messages across lines. A neutral, to an extent."

"Now that the Wars are over, she must have decided on a side," Ultra Magnus mumbled. "The wrong side."

"Her weakness was upgrading," Kup retorted as the starport's lights became visible over the horizon, their launch towers blinking with aircraft warning lights. His tone suddenly dipped. "That's why I didn't recognise her to begin with. She's constantly upgrading herself. "

"That's affirmative," Rodimus agreed. "I had a hard time keeping up to her."

"Fast little vixen, eh?" Kup questioned without humour. "Damn shame, too. Makes me wonder what made her leave the Autobots..."

"She was an Autobot?" Rodimus demanded, surprise lining his voice. Ultra Magnus remained strangely silent.

"Aye, lad. That she was," Kup sighed. "That she was."

_"Springer to Rodimus."_ The communicator inside the Autobot leader's cab crackled to life, interrupting the conversation.

_"Go ahead, Springer."_

"We've coming up on the south end of the starport, but no sign of-wait a minute." There was a pause.

_"I'm picking up two Decepticons in the vicinity."_ Skylynx's tone of superiority interrupted Springer. _"Female designation just entered the port-another Decepticon just entered the Earth's atmosphere...it's Astrotrain!"_

"Skylynx, persue and engage Astrotrain! Springer, Arcee, Blur, intercept the ground Decepticon. We'll be there shortly," Rodimus ordered. "Rodimus out."

"No telling if Astrotrain's carrying any more Decepticons," Ultra Magnus warned. "We'd better be on our toes."

"How could Astrotrain get past the orbital defenses?" Kup then demanded. "We should have been warned prior to him entering the atmosphere!"

"Something's going up," Rodimus Prime growled. "And we need to find out."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Kup added.

The starport personnel swarmed everywhere, preparing the stand-down to deny any arrivals and departures in this state of emergency. Overhead, the white and blue space-shuttle metamorphed into a giant metal predatory bird as three other Autobots emerged from the cargo bay of the beast, two humanoids perched on either runner of the third, an army green helicopter, hovering closer and closer to the pavement below. In higher orbit, another space-shuttle, this one in dark grey and purple, was coming in at a steep angle.

Arcee and Blurr lept off Springer and immediately transformed into their vehicular forms as Springer disengaged his chopper form to take on his ground transformation, gunning towards the larger black automobile.

"Three on one? Hardly fair," Artemis scoffed aloud, downshifting, her engine whining. Tires suddenly squealed as she braked, broadsiding the much faster but much smaller Blurr, forcing him to roll over onto his side.

As Springer came to Blurr's aide, Arcee transformed into her humanoid form and lept, slamming into the Decepticon's roof, her metal fingers hanging onto the lip of the windshield.

"Get off me!" Artemis howled, fishtailing from one side to another.

"Give up, Decepticon! You're outnumbered!" Arcee snarled, pulling out her laser.

"But not outsmarted, that's obvious," the other female designate chuckled as she passed underneath a low clearance sign, striking Arcee in the shoulders and knocking her off. She landed hard on the concrete with a wince as the Decepticon regained some speed. Aiming as quick as she dared, Arcee let lose a volley of laser fire towards the musclecar's rear, the bolts only deflecting off the fender.

"Come back and fight, coward!" Arcee shouted angrily.

Brakes clamped, leaving patches of black behind the musclecar's smoking tires. Arcee glared at the Decepticon transforming back into robot.

"No one," Artemis growled, "calls me a coward."

Turning to face the pink and grey Autobot, two bolts of metal slid out of sheaths on her lower arms. Catching them neatly, the batons activated in the mercenary's hands, glowing electric blue.

"I don't want to hurt you, kid," she then added. "None have you done me wrong, save hinder my mission."

Suddenly, a large blue Decepticon stepped out from the mass of iron I-beams serving as one of the shuttle launches, standing behind Artemis.

`"We do not have time for this,"` he stated simply, his cold, pure electronic tone echoing off the metal garters.

"You're telling me, Soundwave," Artemis grumbled, disengaging her the batons and unholstering a large rifle at her leg. "Sorry about this, kid. Maybe next time."

She fired at Arcee's feet, sending a quake of rock and concrete against the Autobot.

"Let's go, Soundwave!" she then ordered, quickly transforming, leaving her driver's side door open as she sped off. Soundwave followed suit, his large bulk suddenly folding into itself, a compact cassette deck, falling neatly into the driver's seat. Artemis slammed her door shut and increased her speed towards the apparent landing site of Astrotrain.

Skylynx was faring little better in his battle with Astrotrain. The Decepticon transport was at a disadvantage, being without a true aerial fighting form. However, Astrotrain managed to maneuver around Skylynx's dives and lunges, executing a spiraling descent pattern towards a clear, level field about a hundred yards from the starport itself.

"Oh, no, you don't," Skylynx commanded, following with a predatory dive.

"Oh, yes, I will!" Astrotrain chortled, igniting his engines dangerously close to the ground. The heat emitted caused Skylynx to back off slightly, enough to allow Astrotrain to cut engines, bring his nose up, and land safely before Skylynx knew what happened. As he touched ground, he transformed into ground transport, an old-style steam locomotive, though he did not need to rely on rails to move and was powered by more a modern and compatible fuel, energon. "Artemis! Soundwave! Quickly!"

Skylynx diverted his attention as he touched down to the black musclecar gunning towards the Decepticon transport, her high beams glaring. On her tail was Rodimus Prime leading Kup and Ultra Magnus. Knowing that his predator avian form was useless on the ground, he launched off once more, depositing his passenger carriage, which extended a narrow, feline-like head, and four legs, each ending with large metal talons. It roared, charging towards Astrotrain.

"It's over, Decepticons!" Rodimus shouted.

"Not by a long shot!" Artemis snapped back, reverting to her humanoid form, ejecting Soundwave as she did. He also transformed, pulling out his lasers and firing as they ran towards the transport, which was gaining speed towards the melee.

"Artemis!" Kup shouted as the three went into warrior mode. "I know who you are! Give up!"

She stumbled suddenly, her optics widened as she turned to look back at the old warrior.

`"We must leave."` Soundwave took hold of her arm and pulled her into Astrotrain's cargobay, but not before she and Kup's optics met.

"I'm sorry, Kup," she choked, as Astrotrain's door closed behind them.

Kup stared up at Astrotrain as the transport transformed back into shuttle and launched off into the night sky, with Skylynx on his tail.

"I know you are, kid," Kup muttered softly. "But why did you do it?"

"What?" Rodimus demanded.

"She remembered," was all Kup answered.

"What did she get away with?" Ultra Magnus then asked.

"A burnt out macrochip," Rodimus decided to drop the previous subject for now.

"What's so special about that?" Kup asked.

"The marcochip was part of Unicron's processor," the leader remarked. "Human scientists found it on Cybertron after he was destroyed and brought it to the research lab in Portland. They couldn't get anything out of it."

"So why would Galvatron want with a dead chip?" Ultra Magnus then demanded.

"That's the exact question that popped up into my mind." Rodimus sighed, then turned on his communicator. "Autobots, back to base."

***  
Warpgate 1  
Outside Pluto's Orbit

Artemis leaned back against the hold's wall, staring at the macrochip in the palm of her hand. It was the size of an IBM server's motherboard, and alien in design.

`"Autobot pursuit disengaged,"` Soundwave remarked. `"Ability to reach Charr without hindrance, affirmative."`

"All that trouble for this piece of junk," Artemis grumbled. "I wonder what Galvatron would want with it?"

"What is it?" Astrotrain demanded through his internal speakers.

"It's a chip from Unicron," the female designate retorted. "Burnt out beyond use. But obviously worth something to Galvatron." She turned to face Soundwave. "You don't by any chance, know why he's interested in this thing?"

`"Negatory,"` Soundwave retorted.

Artemis grumbled intangibly, tossing the chip in her hand.

"You don't suppose the Quintessons created Unicron, do you?" she then asked.

`"Negatory,"` Soundwave repeated. `"The mass of Unicron would require more than what the Quintessons were able to produce in a period of one billion years."`

"What are you getting at, Arty?" Astrotrain demanded.

"Don't call me Arty," she warned. "I'm just wondering...take, for example, the Quintessons created the first Autobots and Decepticons. Something must have created Unicron, and, because he was a Transfromer, like us, would that make him one of the Quintessons' designs?"

`"Negatory."`

"Okay, wise-guy, why not?" She demanded to Soundwave.

`"The Quintessons would need a factory twice as large as the Earth's sun to produce Unicron. The Quintessons did not create their robots to be Transformers. Transformers created themselves."`

"Good point," Artemis only shrugged. "You don't suppose maybe that's the reason why Galvatron wants the chip? To find out where Unicron came from?"

`"Negatory."`

"And why's that?"

`"Probability of Galvatron caring: nil."`

"Did Soundwave actually crack a joke?" Astrotrain demanded with a chortle.

"You win," Artemis smirked. "Astrotrain, when are we getting back to Charr?"

"As soon as we clear the warpgate, roughly a megacycle," the transport retorted.

`"Query,"` Soundware directed to Artemis. `"You had faltered upon rendezvous with Astrotrain."`

"Well, I wasn't expecting Kup to know who I was," she commented simply, staring out of Astrotrain's viewshield to the infinite space beyond. About two-thousand kilometres in the distance, the gold warpgate suspended with a slight glow to its metal. "He was an old friend of mine, back before the Third War."

`"Expected."` Soundwave nodded.

"He had surprised me, that's all," she concluded, her gaze returning to the unyielding wall across the bay, allowing her thoughts to drift.

Iacon, Cybertron

9 million years prior

_(she remembered, Kup had said.)_

_(no, I've always remembered, i just was reminded.)_

_(why, Kup had asked.)_

_(because I was stupid. I was jealous the day Orion Pax was chosen and not me. I was corrupted, believed otherwise. I was left behind by those I loved dearly. I was naive, believing I could make a difference.)_

The sound of jet engines roared above as the nightwatch blue Autobot skimmed the monitor before her, her ice blue optics dimmed in boredom. Nothing bored her more than shipping and handling detail. As usual, everything was in the green. Each palette accounted for, every tank full.

"We're just too damn efficient," she chortled as a yellow and silver male strode to the console, leaning over to view her work. "What are you up to now, Dion?"

"Well, the shift's almost over," he reminded, as though she hadn't been counting the cycles already. "Ariel, Orion, and I were going to head out to the commerce district after work. Do you want to come along? Double date?"

She looked up at him, her brilliant smile mischievous.

"Not tonight, good buddy," she winked. "I've got to meet up with old man Kup."

_(I probably owe my life to Kup that night...)_

"You never spend any time with us anymore," Dion commented, almost protesting. "If you're not taking lessons at the Academy, you're over in Polyhex doing Primus-knows-what. Do you know what Ariel told us about Polyhex?"

"That it's the bad part of Cybertron and I should stay away from it?" the femme stood, almost as tall as her companion, and picked up a satchel from the floor. Slinging it over her shoulder, she patted Dion's cheek. "Don't worry about me, Dion. I'm a big girl. I've got friends there who watch out for me too."

"But we're your friends too."

"What, I can't have other friends besides you three?" She laughed jestfully, hugging the yellow male. "You, Ariel, and Orion are my best friends, Dion. Don't forget that."

Dion returned the hug tightly. "We just worry about you, Art. You've been drifting away from us lately."

"My classes are important to me," she stated, pulling away from the embrace. "But no matter what, you three take presidant. I'll always be there for you."

_(probably the biggest lie i had ever spun...my only guilt...)_

"You're...going to be late," Dion stammered somewhat, noticing the time.

"I'll see you back at the dorms later tonight, okay?"

"Of course!"

She nodded, exiting the office of the warehouse. Waving to the two other Autobots, the red male and pink femme, she left the shipping yard and headed into downtown Iacon, just as a convoy of trucks carrying some sort of cargo steered towards the warehouse. She thought nothing of it; a normal day in the life of a part time data entry clerk.

_(an unsatisfying position...i regret nothing of my choice to get myself out of that dead-end life.)_

It wasn't until she reached her destination, the lobby of the Academy, when she was met by a crowd of multicoloured Cybertronians gathered around the news wall. Curious, she pushed through the crowd toward the wall, touching the back of one of her friends, a flier, from Polyhex.

"Thundercracker, what's going on?" she demanded, a hushed whispered.

"I don't know much, Art...both city governments had just instated a curfew due to the recent terrorism attacks." The deep-voiced youth shook his head.

"Slot," she hissed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Have they found the group?"

"Um..." the blue and white Seeker shifted his weight uncomfortably. "They...they have a suspicion, but they're not saying anything official yet."

_(poor thundercracker...torn between loyalty and what he believed was right. he was a follower, true...but he never really wanted to fight.)_

"Attention, students and faculty," the intercom overhead crackled to life. "The governments of Iacon and Polyhex have declared a state of emergency. Students and faculty residing in Polyhex, please report to mass transit station 7-Upsilon to be escorted back to Polyhex immediately. Curfew will begin at 1650 for all residents of Iacon. Repeat, students and faculty..."

"Primus," the blue Autobot swore as her friend, as well as various other Cybertronians, turned towards the exits. "Thundercracker, I'll call you at 1700 to find out what's going on."

"I don't know if they'll give out any more information as we already know, Art," he shrugged sullenly, clapping a hand on her shoulder as he left with the other Polyhex-based Cybertronians, leaving her slightly stunned at the revelation.

_(long ago, i wondered why we weren't told more information on the situation. now i understand why. but it wasn't until i was in this thick of the political soup that it was made clear to me of propaganda and bureaucracy...)_

A news flash overtook the wall, filling the entire length with a full colour image of a smoldering building. Rescue units were already swarming the area, attempting to fight the fire.

"Moments ago, terrorists attacked shipping warehouses in the old port of Iacon. As we speak, the rescue squads are cleaning the area. Casualties are still being confirmed as we speak, but speculations are reaching upwards into the hundreds. Both the Iacon and Polyhex governments have instated a curfew."

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She regarded the elder Autobot for five clicks before returning her attention to the video wall.

"This is unreal," she whispered at the devastation before them. The scenes changed subtly, different parts of Iacon, all with the same amount of destruction. "Why are they doing this?"

"It's a message, lass," the blue and bronze Autobot whispered. "It's revolution."

"But why?" The blue femme pushed forward through the crowd. Her mentor followed closely behind.

"Some fight for freedom," he explained. "Others fight for resources. Still, there are some who fight for dominance, power."

"When we could easily live in peace-" Her train of thought was derailed suddenly as a very familiar warehouse, burning, gutted, with rescue bots and glimpses of volunteer civilian fliers carrying out employees. "-oh no...oh, good Primus..." Her hands rose to her mouth, her ice blue optics wide.

"Artemis?"

Artemis stood directly in front of the large monitor, her hand touching and slightly discolouring the liquid crystal display.

"Kup..." she whispered. "My friends ... Orion ... Arial ... Dion ... they were there ... good Primus ..." With a disbelieving shake of her head, she backed up, covering her mouth in horror. Kup caught her, holding her shoulders firmly.

"There's nothing you can do about it, Artemis," he hissed, his voice downtrodden.

"I was just there-"

"You couldn't have stopped it," he shushed.

_(i was so naive back then...still in the thought that i could make a difference...heh...i still think that sometimes...somehow, I could make a difference...no, I couldn't have stopped megatron's attack on my friends.)_

The start of the Third Cybertronian War, what would be known as the Great War, had begun, and her entire world literally crashed down before her.

And then Megatron emerged from the bowels of Cybertron.

He had been created as the perfect warrior: powerful, shrewdly intelligent, intended as an enforcer towards peace, but somehow, corruption leaked into his programming, corruption that stretched beyond most Cybertronian memory, bringing the name Decepticon back into common vocabulary.

_(no one remembers...or wants to remember...)_

_(he gained an army...the decepticons attacked those who stood against them...this was it...this was the beginning of the end...)_

Later that night, when she was supposed to be back at the living complex, she rushed out to search for her friends, avoiding any sentinels and police easily. Ariel was her roommate; she did not want to be alone that night, and with Dion and Orion her only other Iaconian friends she could have crashed with...

_(i lost it...oh, damn him, i was afraid!)_

She reached the rubble of the warehouse, still smoldering from the attack. Frantically searching through the sea of expressionless faces amongst the rescue workers, she found one, a tall red and white civilian flier who seemed very torn of the situation. Running towards him, she took his arm, grabbing his attention.

"Where's Orion and the others?" she demanded curtly, her optics wide. "Dion? Ariel? Where are they?"

"We...we took them to a workshop," he stammered finally, pointing with a shaky finger towards the commercial district. "It...it was all we could do."

"Are they still online?"

"I...don't know," the flier shook his head. "My brothers are there, waiting for word...I came back to see if I could be of any more use here."

"Thank you," she whispered, giving his arm a pat before bolting into the direction he indicated, transforming into her vehicle mode, a light-duty pick-up truck. Sure enough, she found four other civilian fliers, waiting outside one of the workshops in the hospital block, all in different states of worry.

_(I did not understand why they were so concerned...I did not know them, and yet there they were, keeping vigil...)_

Reverting back to bot mode, she staggered forward, caught by the nearest flier.

"Orion...Ariel...Dion...are they here?" she demanded before they could have a chance to retort. The four casted glances at one another, silently asking the other for what to say.

"Yeah, they're here," the one with VTOL engines on his wings nodded just as another robot, this one mulberry red with a mustache, older than Kup, by her estimates.

"I had to rebuild them," he stated in a tired voice. "They are still your friends, but now, they're more..."

The figure behind the older robot came forth from the shadows, no longer the flame red and light blue she had remembered him. Taller, with more girth, Orion's face was obscured by a plate; however, those optics remained the same, with the twinkle of friendship and loyalty, smiling optics that regarded the four fliers just before settling on the nightwatch blue femme.

"Artemis," he beckoned, relief in his voice.

_(his voice had changed...much deeper than before...holding more power...)_

"I'm okay," she whispered, stepping towards her old friend. "I should have been there, Orion...I'm sorry..."

"Nothing you could have done could have prevented what happened, Art," he whispered, resting his hand over her shoulder. "I'm relieved you weren't involved."

_(oh, I was involved deeper than you could ever imagine, Orion...not consciously, but involved, nonetheless.)_

_(No...not Orion...)_

_(He would be called Optimus Prime from now on.)_

***  
Fifteen light years from Wolf 359  
near the planet Charr

"We're nearing base." Astrotrain's voice jogged Artemis out of her thoughts.

"It's about time," she grumbled, rotating her head side to side, then back to front to release any stubborn kinks in her neck. Her attention back to the chip in her hand, she added with a grumble, "This damn thing better be worth the trouble..."

Soundwave only stared at the upcoming planetoid in the viewscreen. The Decepticon's new base of operations after losing Cybertron, Charr was a burnt out planet that had once supported life long ago. The planet itself was oblong, spinning at a seventy-five degree axis around a white dwarf star two A.U.s away. General belief led to the possibility that the denizens were killed when their sun went supernova. No one had any real idea what these inhabitants looked like or what had really happened to the planetary system; the Decepticons weren't known to study archaeology as a hobby. Artemis admitted to having a slight curiosity about the planet before it became Charr, but it wasn't strong enough to actually pick up a blaster and start digging for fossils. Her interest was to collect either interplanetary credits and/or energon, head back to Sirius II, and get that damned brake upgrade.

As Astrotrain began his landing sequence, Artemis heard the whisper.

At first, she dismissed it as the ship entering an atmosphere. Charr had a very thin carbon trioxide atmosphere; deadly to any biological beings.

And then the voices began, intangible but unnerving.

Raising an eyeridge, she glanced around the cargobay, searching for the origin of the voices.

`"You heard something."` Soundwave demanded.

"I don't know..." she answered truthfully. "Maybe it's the stress."

Soundwave dismissed her comment as fact as Astrotrain touched down onto Charr's rocky surface.

"Final destination: Decepticon base!" Astrotrain called out as he opened the hatch. Just as Artemis and Soundwave exited the cargo hold, Astrotrain transformed into his robot form, the three then venturing to the cavern where the Decepticons set up base.

"Where is everyone?" Astrotrain demanded quietly, noting the absence of a posted guard.

"Weapons out," Artemis ordered, pulling out her rifle. "I don't like the looks of this..." Her optics darted from side to side, examining the rock walls surrounding the area. Circling Soundwave, she stood, back to back with him, pointing to Astrotrain and gesturing to go forward, towards the cavern.

"What if there's a trap?" He asked defensively.

"Soundwave and I'll cover you," she reassured.

`"Probability of ambush with this tactic: minimal."` Soundwave added.

"All right, but if I get killed-"

"-We'll probably get killed right after you," Artemis hissed. "Now go!"

Tentatively, Astrotrain slowly walked towards the entrance of the cave, barred off by a thick metal door. With an uneasy hand, he eased the door open and peered inside.

"There's no one here!" he stated.

"Guard up!" Artemis barked, surveying more thoroughly. "Soundwave, send out Ravage and Ratbat...see if they can find any trace of the others."

Soundwave nodded; although Artemis was not his leader, he saw her logic. Pressing the eject button on his shoulder. Two cassettes, the size of dinner tables, flew out, one forming into a jaguar-like quadruped, the other, a giant bat.

`"Ravage, Ratbat, search the area for other Decepticons,"` Soundwave ordered the two. Both comprehended to their master's wish as they both headed in opposite directions.

"What now?" Astrotrain backed up from the door.

"Check all the minor caverns in there...they might be having a meeting in the 'war room'." Artemis snorted. "We'll stay topside and alert you if there's any news."

"Now I've got a funny feeling about this," Astrotrain grumbled, edging into the cavern.

"It's called paranoia; I thought it was inbred in Decepticons," Artemis grumbled. "I got it from associating with paranoids." To her other companion, she then added, "Come on, Soundwave...they've got to be around here somewhere."

`"Direction."`

"Best bet would be to get to higher ground," she pointed up to the jagged rock wall's edge. "We could shout better, at least until Ravage and Ratbat return."

`"Agreed."` Soundwave's head jerked upward. `"Decepticon approaching."`

"It's about time," Artemis sighed. "I just hope there hasn't been another coup since we left."

`"Negatory. The only one who would dare challenge Galvatron-"`

"Starscream, the fool...and look where that got him," Artemis snorted again. She found herself wondering how she was able to stand him as long as she did, and, deep down, was glad he was no longer in the realm of the living. Aloud, though keeping her rifle ready, she called out in the general direction where Soundwave was pointing. "Who's there?"

Blitzwing poked his head over the ridge.

"State your business!" he demanded.

Artemis's jaw dropped, shooting a sideways glance at Soundwave, whose stoicism betrayed nothing.

"Blitzwing? What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, still holding her rifle in a ready position.

"Guardwatch, of course."

"Blitzwing, you're banished, remember?" she reminded. "Galvatron banished you for 'aiding with the Autobots.'" She knew the truth, of course, as well as Soundwave and any other Decepticon in his right mind; if it wasn't for Blitzwing, they all would have been melted down by the Quintessons. And technically, Galvatron did give the memory-deficient Transformer the order to "tell it to the Autobots" when Blitzwing found out the Quintessons' secret agenda.

"Oh, yeah..." Blitzwing's face suddenly showed signs of worry. "Um...I wasn't here, all right?"

"I didn't see anything," Artemis turned to Soundwave. "Did you?"

`"Optics malfunction...compensating..."`

Silently, she thanked Soundwave for his clear-headed logic.

"Get out of here, Blitzwing," she nodded.

"Thanks, I owe you," he saluted, transforming into his jet fighter and taking off. This led to another voice calling out.

"Don't shoot!" someone shouted aloud.

"Swindle? Is that you?" Artemis groaned, relaxing her grip of her rifle. "Why aren't you at your post?"

"I was, but, heh, damnedest thing, I heard something." The smaller Decepticon slipped out from behind a tall rock, walking towards the group, Ravage growling behind him.

"Like us landing?" Artemis demanded.

"No! No, nothing like that. Listen, I didn't hear you come; I was on the other side of the wall, checking out some noises I heard in the ruins."

"Sure, Swindle, whatever you say," the female designate waved her hand in an end-of-discussion manner and headed back towards the caverns.

`"Ratbat, return,"` Soundwave ordered in the general direction of where the other animal-like cassette headed, then opened the storage area for Ravage to transform into his compact mode and return to the safeties of his master.

Artemis nodded, following Soundwave into the cavern, but not before Swindle caught her arm.

"Though, you know, I did see your little mercy with Blitzwing," he smirked sardonically.

Artemis growled, shaking off his grasp and applying her own, much firmer, clamp to the smaller Combaticon's shoulder.

"You didn't see anything either."

"I didn't if I get a percentage of what Galvatron's paying you."

_The little con-artist.._.

"Sixty-forty."

"Fifty-fifty."

"Sixty-forty, and half the energon."

"Deal!" She and Swindle shook on it. She growled again, heading back to the doorway.

Swindle watched them disappear into the cavern, shaking his head.

"There's gonna be trouble with that gal," he smirked. "But how to exploit it?"

***  
Autobot City  
Earth

Autobot City served three purposes.

The first function was to collect and process energy. The entire base area seemed like a science experimentation in energy production. Solar panels and windmills dotted the mountainside as miniature rigs dug for crude oil as well as a refinery. The fuel collected was then processed into energon compatible with the Cybertronian systems.

The second function was a home for Earthside Autobots. Though many still considered Cybertron their one and only home, there were some who loved the organic nature of Earth and chose to remain there, visiting their homeworld only when necessary.

The third function, one that was tried in the past numerous times, was defense. This included the base transforming into a fortress, and the fortress, if needed, to be transformed into Metroplex. After Trypticon was defeated, Metroplex operated more as the computer systems; after all, his natural form was Autobot City, not the robot form like most Transformers.

"What a night..." Kup groaned as the away team returned to base, few in better spirits than him.

Meaning, exclusively, the Dinobots.

"Kup, tell Grimlock the time!" Grimlock suddenly demanded.

"It's quarter-past eight," Rodimus retorted, deadpan, beating Kup to the draw.

"AM or BM?" Swoop asked.

Rather than correct them, the leader answered, defeated, "BM."

"Thanks Rodimus!" Grimlock veered towards the projection room, the other Dinobots following. Suddenly, the tyrannosaur transformer stopped in his tracks. "Um...is that before or after eight?"

"After, Grimlock."

"Thanks Rodimus!"

Rodimus and Kup only stared at the quartet until they disappeared into the projection room.

"It's amazing they've managed to get this far in life without getting slagged," Kup muttered.

"By who? The Decepticons or us?" the leader managed a small smirk. "Anyway, what's their hurry?"

"Some tv show they can't bare to miss," Kup shrugged, seeming distant.

"What's up?" Rodimus noticed Kup's brooding look.

"Huh?"

"You've got something on your mind."

"Lad, times like these, I've always have something on my mind."

"You knew her personally, didn't you?"

"Lad, let's just say I never would have expected this. Artemis was loyal to the Autobot tradition, even though she tended to stay out of the conflict. I'm trying to figure out what went wrong."

"I think we all are wondering the same thing." Rodimus turned his direction to the entrance of Autobot city, where the others were walking through. "Skylynx, what happened? I thought your were in pursuit-"

The great head of Skylynx bowed somewhat.

"Forgive me, Rodimus," he stated humbly, "but I believe we may have a problem."

Rodimus only looked over at Kup, then back at Skylynx.

"How bad?"

Skylynx let out an exasperated sigh and stated "I believe the Decepticons have discovered a cloaking device."

"Tell me you're joking," Kup grumbled.

"I'm afraid not. Once they cleared Earth's orbit, Astrotrain vanished."

"Just-like-in-Star-Trek-like-Romulans-and-Klingons-just-vanish-poof!-without-a-trace?" Blur questioned.

"Yes, Blurr. Vanished." Skylynx shook his head. "By the time I reached Jupiter, the exhaust trail was cold."

"It doesn't really matter now," Rodimus retorted. "There's only one place they would go to."

"Charr," Ultra Magnus remarked.

"Exactly. I want everyone in the War Room pronto. I'll brief everyone there."

*

Daniel Witwicky wasn't like the other kids in his third grade class. Around other children, he was quiet, a dreamer, tending to keep to himself. On occasion, when something interested him at school, he would become as excited as any other child. His father Spike liked to tell the story about how in first grade Daniel's class was studying dinosaurs and the teacher instructed the children to find a model or a picture of their favourite dinosaur to bring in the next day for show and tell.

Daniel wanted to bring in Grimlock.

After extensive talks with both Spike and Optimus Prime that Grimlock would not be the best model to show off to a school full of young children who might find a tyrannosaur rex frightening, they finally came with a compromise to let Daniel bring in Swoop, which turned out to be more of a success than planned. At least the bullies at school stopped picking on Daniel.

All in all, Daniel was an exceptionally bright child. He was taking Gifted and Talented Math and Science classes, as well as playing on the elementary chess team. He didn't have too many school friends; the only one he would openly admit to liking was a girl his age in his GT Math class, Samantha Farrens.

Daniel was doing his homework in the projection room, his mind elsewhere at the moment. He had heard the Autobots talking of something serious about the Decepticons. The little boy strained to hear the conversation, but the ruckus of the Dinobots stomping in drowned out the fading voices.

"Hey, guys," Daniel greeted. "What's going on?"

"Decepticon steal something. Useless something," Grimlock remarked simply, settling on his haunches in front of the big screen tv. The other Dinobots followed suit, Swoop perched up above Daniel on the couch, Slag and Sludge making themselves at home at opposite ends of the couch. Daniel raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Something useless? Why?" he asked, setting down his homework as Grimlock picked up the remote and turned on the television. Just as he did that, two of the four Junkions at Autobot City, Frag and Rustedge, bolted into the room, claiming either side of Daniel. The couch sagged significantly with the added weight of the metal bodies, Daniel would have sworn he could get airbourne if Frag and Rustedge had fell harder into their seats. The two Junkions suddenly began chirping along as the title to Pokemon began playing on the screen. This drew one more Autobot, Wheelie, into the room, searching for a place to sit. He finally settled for the floor in front of Daniel.

"And I thought I would get my homework done tonight," the human smirked, focusing his direction on the television screen.

There suddenly was a slight crackle as the intercom snapped on.

_"Will Ensigns Frag and Rustedge, and Dinobots come to the bridge,"_ Wreck-Gar, the Junkion Leader, demanded, his voice tinnier than usual through the speaker, _"or else they must tell the air velocity of an unladen swallow."_

"African or European?" all the Dinobots demanded simultaneously, their eyes not moving from the tv.

_"Well..."_ Wreck-Gar paused. _"I don't know..."_

There was quick conversation in the background.

_"Guys, get your tailgates in gear and get down to the War Room, ASAP,"_ Rodimus ordered over the intercom.

"We are being hailed, Captain," Rustedge muttered without emotion.

"Let them eat static," Frag retorted, over-punctuating his words.

"Bad idea, better fear," Wheelie muttered under his breath.

"Rodimus say we go," Sludge remarked, standing and looking at Grimlock. "Maybe we should."

"Why should me, Grimlock, go?"

"If you, Grimlock, do, you could make Decepticon stew," Wheelie pointed out.

Grimlock looked at his comrade, down to Wheelie, back to the tv, then at the intercom.

"Grimlock catch rerun." Grimlock stood as well. "Dinobots, to War Room!"

The four transformed into their animal forms and stampeded out of the projection room as Rustedge and Frag both hummed the old Batman television theme.

"You guys better go, or anger others so," Wheelie suggested to the other two.

Rustedge glanced over at his much stockier counterpart.

"You promised you'd see the penguin when you got out," he retorted in a Chicago-esque accent as he stood. Frag only stared.

"No slottin' way," he grumbled.

"You can't lie to the penguin!"

Finally, Frag stood, allowing the other Junkion to drag him out of the projection room.

"What a strange lot, the Junkions, are they not?" Wheelie asked Daniel as the little Autobot claimed the seat next to him.

"You've got that right," Daniel nodded, glancing down at his workbook. It had sunk into the crack of the cushions when Frag had sat next to him. "What happened at the Starport?"

"Mess I say, Decepticon got away," Wheelie shrugged. "She seemed Autobot, really strange, and when Skylynx perused, she got out of range."

Daniel nodded, weeding through Wheelie's rhymes and riddles to make sense.

"What made her seem like an Autobot?"

"This is the truth, she didn't fire, she had the chance, but not the desire."

"That is weird for a Decepicon." Daniel ventured to the room's archway and peered into the corridor. "I wonder what they're talking about down there."

"Let's find out, it will only take a bit-"

"And if Dad or Rodimus finds out, they'll have a fit," Daniel finished his friend's couplet. "We're not allowed in the War Room when the grownups are having a meeting."

"If you trust me, I kid you not, we can watch and not get caught."

"What do you mean?"

Wheelie said nothing, only pushed the couch away from the wall. He pointed to the ventilation grill, three feet wide by two feet tall.

"Are you sure we won't get caught?"

"If you are afraid, don't you fear, I'll find out, and bring the word back here."

"That would be better. It's almost my bedtime."

"You sit back, and I'll be back right, and we'll find out what happened tonight." Wheelie saluted the human child and popped open the grate. Giving Daniel a thumbs-up, he then disappeared into the vent. Not to arouse suspicion, Daniel pushed the couch back to its former position and picked up his workbook. Though extremely curious, and as much as he wanted to join Wheelie's espionage, it was too close to bedtime. If his mom couldn't find him-

\- he could say that he and Wheelie went to play outside and lost track of the time-

"Wheelie! Wait for me!" He called out, slipping behind the couch and crawled after Wheelie.

The War Room was actually a large conference room, designed for Cybertronian functions. Kup had called it the War Room as somewhat of a joke after Jazz's smart remark about how "the conference room" didn't strike fear into the bad guys. So the War Room stuck. Normally used for system status checkups with Autobot City and Metroplex, it was also exceptionally functional for group analysis of problems much too large for one Autobot to handle.

Tonight was no exception.

"Okay, everyone, let's get some order in here," Rodimus Prime demanded, standing at the head of the large table, constructed around a holographic projector. As soon as the words left his mouth, hands flew up.

"Energon on rye, hold the mayo!" Bumblebee, Blaster, and Jazz called out in unison.

Kup let out a little snort. "Who didn't see that one coming?"

Grimlock and the other Dinobots raised their hands.

"I'm gonna keep my mouth shut now," Kup grumbled, taking his seat to Rodimus's left.

"First order of business," the leader began. "The theft tonight from Portland Polytechnologies by a Decepticon mercenary. Both the thief and the item stolen are of grave concern to us. The item was a macrochip from Unicron's processor."

Groans and protests rose from the panel.

"The chip, as pointed out by Dr. Ryder at Portland Polytech, had reassured us that it could not in anyway be reactivated. Ninety-five percent of it was totally destroyed."

"Okay, I'm feeling a little more relieved now," Spike remarked, wiping his brow. "Though it wouldn't make much sense why the Decepticons would want the chip to begin with. Even if it did work, why would Galvatron want to reactivate Unicron?"

"Perhaps to attempt to control that which had controlled him," Perceptor retorted in his clipped accent. "And even then that wouldn't be probable, since the only artifact that survived the destruction was Unicron's head."

"This may seem like a long shot," Arcee interjected, "and not to sound like I'm siding with the Decepticons, but we all know Galvatron hasn't been...well, himself...after the incident. What if he wants the chip only to reassure that Unicron's dead?"

"I'm not discrediting any theories here," Rodimus nodded. "And perhaps that maybe the reason. But to send a mercenary...?"

"A common tactic, lad," Kup remarked. "He didn't want to risk his own men, so he hired out, so in case we captured the mercenary, he, or in this case, she, wouldn't reveal why Galvatron wanted the chip."

"Understood-but-why-didn't-she-shoot-tell-us-that-she-Didn't-attempt-to-shoot-to-kill-tell-us-that-huh-huh?," Blur demanded.

"I was point blank from her, and she only fired to daze," Arcee added. "It didn't seem like a tactic a Decepticon would even consider. Even what she said before she attacked: 'You did me no wrong, save hinder my mission.'"

Kup looked at Ultra Magnus, who looked up at Rodimus.

"That's because she was, at one time, an Autobot," he stated simply.

This generated more muted conversation through the ranks.

"Kup, perhaps you would tell them...?" Rodimus then asked. Kup nodded, and stood.

"Her name is Artemis, a courier during the Wars. Though she was an Autobot, she stayed neutral. I hadn't heard from her until now."

"So why is she siding with the Decepticons now?" Springer demanded.

"We don't know, lad," Kup shook his head.

The buzz quieted gradually.

"Next order of business," Rodimus continued. "Even more bad news. According to Skylynx, the Decepticons have managed to get their hands on a light refractor."

"You mean a cloaking device?" Spike questioned. "Like in Star Trek?"

"A little more sophisticated, but yeah," Rodimus nodded. "Granted, if Skylynx would deal with Astrotrain on Charr, that's one thing, but if all the Decepticons were to attack, I don't think Skylynx would have a chance, no offense," he directed to the great predator bird perched in a corner.

"None taken, Rodimus," Skylynx nodded. "You only voiced the logic I had thought."

"So those are our main concerns about the Decepticons. Though we've been reassured by numerous sources that the chip is indeed no threat, I still think it best if we recovered it. Though the cloaking device will pose a problem, Perceptor, Spike, Wreck-Gar, I want the three of you to come up with something that would either track it or render it useless."

"It shouldn't be that much of an obstacle, since the complexity of the refractor is working on the fact that it bounces ambient light-" Perceptor began, noticing Ultra Magnus tapping his finger on the table. Perceptor coughed and nodded. "What I mean to say is that it shouldn't take too long."

"We'll get right on it," Spike nodded.

"Satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back," Wreak-Gar agreed.

"Perceptor, what's the estimated time for completion?" Ultra Magnus demanded.

"Give or take the probability of trial and error in the test phase-"

_\- tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-_

"-I would say one, maybe two days, at the most." Perceptor concluded.

"In the meantime, Skylynx, you're on planetary watch until then," Rodimus ordered. "Keep an eye out for any anomalies, any clues that could be the Decepticons, no matter how small."

"Consider it done, Rodimus," Skylynx bobbed his oblong head.

"Blaster, monitor all radio frequencies, including any you can pick up between here and Cybertron. If you hear anything pertaining to the Decepticons or Unicron, let me know as soon as possible."

"And I thought you were gonna give me something challenging," Blaster smirked.

"After the device is built, we'll meet back here and discuss further plans. If there's any more business-"

Grimlock rose his hand.

"Yes, Grimlock?" Rodimus questioned.

"Me, Grimlock, was wondering...where Snarl?"

This seemed to silence everyone in the room. Confused glances shot from one Autobot to another.

"It's true; we haven't seen Snarl in over three months," Kup pointed out.

"Might I interject," Perceptor coughed. "He was badly damaged in a firefight with the Decepticons prior to the...ahem, incident with Unicron. While we were repairing Autobot City after all was said and done, he just walked out of the repair bay."

"No one kept tabs on him?" Rodimus demanded.

"Me, Grimlock, take care of Dinobots," Grimlock stated proudly. "Me not know Snarl missing till now."

"Snarl's been missing for three months, and you didn't notice until now?" Ultra Magnus shook his head.

"I don't think anyone did, truthfully," Spike added sheepishly. "He pretty much stays to himself."

"Maybe he went out grazing," Slag suggested.

"Dinobots don't graze," Grimlock bapped Slag on the head.

"Then why Snarl go out grazing?" Slag rifled back.

Just then, Carly, Spike's wife, stormed in, glancing around the room.

"Has anyone seen Daniel?" she demanded. "I can't find him anywhere."

"He maybe out grazing with Snarl," Swoop suggested quietly. Grimlock backslapped him as well, causing Swoop to fall backwards.

"He's up in the ventilation system with Wheelie," Kup suggested, flipping his thumb above his head at the vent grate. "I've been hearing him breathe throughout the meeting."

"Nuts," Daniel's voice echoed out.

"Go to bed, Daniel," Spike ordered, trying really hard not to smile.

"All right, Dad," Daniel grumbled. There was some shuffling above Kup's head.

"Wheelie, get your tailpipe out of there as well," Kup ordered.

"See? Told you we'd get caught," Daniel muttered.

"Though he's old, I must confess, Kup's hearing's still the best," Wheelie hissed under his breath.

This caused a riotous laughter around the room as Kup leapt onto his chair and yanked the grate out of its housing.

"I'm gonna show you 'old'...!" the old soldier reached into the vent, his entire arm up to his shoulder disappearing into the blackness. With a "gotcha!", he pulled Wheelie out by a leg. Uprighting the smallest Autobot, he set him on the ground and clasped an steel hand around Wheelie's shoulder. Turning to Rodimus Prime, who was leaned over the table, a hand covering his optics as he tried to stop laughing, Kup then demanded, "What the hell's so funny?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The bartender grinned, encouraging. "Pay attention, my girl, you will learn something about yourself."_
> 
> _Black learned from the experience as Brash: aliases were important. Iteration 8 in Primax 1005 Gamma_ aleph-gimel _became, for a time, Bandit of Kethys, and Artemis of Iacon, for nearly three centuries, was presumed dead._


	3. The War Within Oneself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Galvatron makes his push to collect his prize within the head of the dead god, but Cybertron Defense is prepared. But is it Galvatron's will, or his former master's?

***  
Charr

Artemis's theory of life was to only show fear once to a person. With a creature like Galvatron, showing fear was what he wanted so that he could rule over the other Decepticons. If asked if she feared the mighty and tyrannic leader, she would answer at one point, long ago, but never extended on that.

In truth, Artemis had forgotten how to fear. If death should come to her, whether killed in battle or shot in the back by a Decepticon, it would happen. Oblivion at that point seemed much more welcome than her empty existence as a mercenary.

She and Soundwave walked down the dimly-lit hallway of the makeshift Decepticon base, wide, gradual steps downward suggesting whoever lived here prior to the sun's nova were as large as the average Cybertronian.

Finally, they entered the large cavern serving as the war room. Everyone chose to stand around here, with Galvatron closest to the door, Cyclonus and Scourge on his left, and the Sweeps mingled in with the rest of the Decepticons.

"It's about time you returned," Cyclonus growled just before Galvatron swung his arm at his second-in-command, striking him square in the chest. Cyclonus did not fall back, nor did he cry out.

"It is not your position to demand answers!" The leader snarled. Reverting his attention on the latecomers, he added, "It's about time you returned."

"We would have been here sooner, Lord Galvatron," Artemis stated coolly, hiding her distaste for the Decepticon leader flawlessly, "but the absence of a guard at the front door raised our suspicions. As Astrotrain could attest to, we were securing the perimeter to assure that there was no foul play involved. We finally encountered Swindle, which assured us that the situation seemed nominal."

"Is this true, Soundwave?" Galvatron demanded.

`"It is, Lord Galvatron,"` Soundwave answered truthfully. Artemis smirked inwardly. Soundwave was incapable of lying. To explain something with the right words was better than trying to get that annoying Decepticon in trouble; the last thing she needed to see was someone else end up like, at best, Blitzwing, banished, or, at worst, Starscream. As much as she thought Swindle a little too currency-monging and much too annoying, Artemis hated Galvatron's outrageous punishments.

"Who put Swindle on guard duty without consulting me?" The leader suddenly raged to the group.

Scrapper, one of the Constructicons, stepped forward, trying very hard not to show his fear.

"Swindle volunteered for duty, Lord Galvatron," he stated. "No one else wanted to miss your meeting."

_Good save on your part,_ Artemis thought sarcastically. Alone, Scrapper wasn't known for his courage. The other Constructicons were wisely staying out of the discussion. No one could predict what the leader would do, if his better judgement would show through or if his rage would become out of hand. Tonight, it seem that good judgement was winning.

"Artemis, Astrotrain informed us on your mission's success," Galvatron directed to her exclusively. Artemis nodded, holding forth the chip.

"The Autobots attempted to interfere, of course," she remarked. "It did not delay us too much."

"If only certain true-built Decepticons would show such efficiency," Galvatron sneered, taking the chip from the mercenary. "It sickens me that I must hire mercenaries rather than trust my own soldiers to get the success I desire." He held up the macrochip for all the Decepticons to see. "This is part of Unicron's processor. The Autobots and the humans believe it to be destroyed beyond use. However," a wicked grin crossed his face, "it holds a key to technology we couldn't even begin to fathom. The simple light refractor Astrotrain possesses will seem obsolete in comparison to the stealth capabilities and fire power we could gain. We could win back Cybertron and destroy the Autobots!"

Cheers rose from the ranks, though Artemis remained stoic. She wanted her credits so she could get the hell out of Dodge, as the humans would say. Whatever Galvatron was planning, she didn't care. All she wanted was her brake upgrade.

_(no, i care, dammit...they're talking about destroying my-)_

She dismissed her protesting thought with a quick shake of her head. She wasn't an Autobot any longer. She couldn't give a damn about the Autobots.

_(are you sure, artemis?)_

The voice of reason echoed somewhat inside her mind. It was the same voice of reason which constantly whispered to her, asking her rhetoric questions about her decisions. Normally, she could ignore them.

There were some, she learned from experience, she could not ignore.

Those questions came to her in Optimus Prime's voice...

...like the question just now.

_(not now,)_ she ordered the voice, and came to attention as Galvatron continued his speel about Unicron and how his technology would destroy the Autobots.

_(your life is in danger, artemis,)_ the other voice whispered. Her eyes widened. That in no way came from her own thoughts. It was that voice of reason again, the one that talked in her old friend's voice. _(you've outlived your usefulness to galvatron; he's becoming to see you as a threat. the moment you're not watching your back, he'll strike.)_

_(i've never trusted galvatron,)_ she thought. _(he and megatron are one and the same, and i've hated his very essence ever since he killed orion pax.)_

_(just orion pax?)_

_(amongst others.)_

_(vengeance, artemis? that's not your way.)_

_(i've made it my way.)_

_(is that why you joined the decepticons?)_

_(I did not join the decepticons. I am a mercenary.)_

_(you stand with them now.)_

She chose to ignore the voice of reason and focused her attention on the Decepticon leader.

"-accompanied by Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps, Thundercracker, Soundwave, Desertstrike, and Artemis, to retrieve the information and technology," Galvatron concluded. "Soon, my Decepticons, we shall take back Cybertron and the quadrant!"

The cheers of agreement were deafening, though Artemis was not amused.

Galvatron had not paid up yet, and she wanted her brake upgrade ASAP. But, in order for him not to blow up and shooting randomly, she would remain quiet. If anything, she was usually patient, especially when dealing with the Decepticon leader. She was nobody's fool.

She would just have to wait for her payment.

_(are you certain he will deliver?)_

Artemis growled slightly at the voice of reason. There was something unnerving about it, something that suggested the voice came from elsewhere.

"Lord Galvatron," Desertstrike, the only female-designate Decepticon amongst the group, called attention. She awaited for him to recognise her, then asked, "When shall we leave?"

"Immediately," Galvatron sneered.

"Lord Galvatron," Artemis interjected. "Perhaps we should wait until Astrotrain is fully charged."

She suddenly realised she wasn't watching her own back as she stared down the barrel of the gold-tinted arm cannon mounted on the leader's right arm.

"Are you questioning my judgement?" Galvatron demanded.

He had expected and wanted to see fear in her optics. Disappointed, he only found stoism.

"No, Lord Galvatron. I'm taking into consideration the possibility of Autobot defenses. We are going to be in range of their sensors when we reach Unicron's head, and we should all be charged up for a battle. I'm only looking for the good of the mission, and for the success of the Decepticons."

With baited breath, she waited for Galvatron's reaction. Finally, the cannon lowered.

"Very well, then," Galvatron turned to the rest of the Decepticons. "In twelve hours, then, the mission team shall meet in the main chamber. Scrapper, you will have guard duty."

"Yes, Lord Galvatron," Scrapper nodded, glaring over at Artemis.

"You are all dismissed."

***  
Iacon  
Cybertron

Security to the homeworld was tight, as usual; the Autobots weren't going to lose their planet again.

During this rotation, Warpath was heading the team, with a couple of younger Autobots training with the defense and communications systems. Though Warpath wasn't much older than them, he had what Kup would say was much more important than any trained skill.

Experience.

Kup had decided to try Warpath's military skills for the defense on their homeworld, since it was almost completely automated. Kup's main concern was Earth Defense, and, with Rodimus Prime's agreement, stayed on Earth while Warpath was sent to babysit.

"Incoming message from Autobot City on Earth, Warpath!" A tall, blue male designate called out from the communications station.

"Zowie! Patch 'er in, Ranger!" the red tank exclaimed.

"Patched in...now," Ranger nodded his head, finding the correct button.

"This is Cybertron Defense! Whatcha got for us?" Warpath demanded.

_"This is your Eye in the Cybertronian Sky report, coming atcha!"_ Blaster's voice crackled in. _"We've got possible Decepticreeps heading your way! We don't know for certain, but Rodimus thinks they might try something stupid, if you catch my drift. Might wanna keep your optics peeled towards Unicron's head, though we've gotta warn ya, they've got some weird cloaking device crap on Astrotrain."_

"Wowsa! We'll upgrade sky patrols and if they get anywhere near here, kaboom!" Warpath stated.

_"We've got the Prof working on some equally weird decloaker, and you'll be the first to know what he comes up with! Blaster out!"_

"Cybertron, out!" Warpath turned on his foot, pointed at various other Autobots who seemed to be just hanging around.

"Cloaking device, eh?" a white and black female designate smirked vocally at one of the gunner stations. "What about sending an energon sweep of the area in a fifty-thousand klick radius from the planet? It'll give us a fair enough warning, no matter the size of their 'army'. They can't cloak their own energy exhaust. It's impossible, unless they vent it back into the ship, but by then it would be toxic to even Cybertronians."

"Would that work?" Ranger questioned, scratching his head.

"In theory, yeah," the other Autobot shrugged. "All a cloaking device is is a light refractor, needing ambient light to bounce and redirect to create the illusion of invisibility. Or something like that."

"It's the only plan we have at the moment," Cliffjumper pointed out. "Do we have any guarantee that it'll work, Cavalier?"

"Heck no," she snorted. "Again, this is only in theory, but if they need to do anything, they'll need to uncloak. If that doesn't work, we've got enough firepower to level Charr."

"Your faith in our defenses is commendable."

"Hey, you got me as a gunner," Cavalier pointed a thumb at her chest.

"That's why I'm worried," Ranger grumbled.

"Proximity sensors might also help," she added. "Though they don't have much of a range, if we scatter them around Unicron's head, they will serve as a great early warning device."

"Then make it so!" Warpath ordered. "One wrong move, and the Decepticreeps will go kablooie!"

"Of course, every move with them is a wrong move," Cavalier snickered.

***  
Autobot City  
Earth  
The Next Morning

"Good morning, Autobot City!" Blaster announced from his communications tower overlooking the entire city, Judas Priest's "Freewheel Burning" playing quietly in the background. "This is Blaster blastin' atcha with the AM report! Local time's seven-oh-five, partly cloudy with chance of thunder, and a 'thunderin' it will be, with the omnipresent reassurance that we will kick Decepti-chops no matter what. Last night, for those who don't know, a break-in at Portland Polytech led to a theft of a macrochip by-you guessed it-the Decepticreeps. Bummer part, it looks as though the opposing team has found someone with some brains, because they managed to get away. It is believed to be a strange programming quirk that caused some sort of intelligence in said Decepticon. But, oh well, who knows what kick-butt plan Rodimus Prime and the gang has cooking in the oven, but, we can be assured, dudes and dudettes, that it won't be pretty for the bad guys.

"In other latebreaking news, it has been confirmed that the Dinobot Snarl has been missing for over three months. He was last seen-according to fellow Dinobot Slag, get this-grazing outside Autobot City during the last Decepticon raid. It has just recently been brought up by Grimlock last night. Talk about a delayed reaction.

"Enough with the news, to wake you from your snooze, we've got a long set of as much rock I get! Here to start off this rockin' frenzy, from their album "Turbo", comes Judas Priest's "Turbo Lover", going out by request to someone who's secretly admired. All I can say is-" The deejay's voice suddenly turned taunting "-'I know who it is! Nyah!' However, since I'm sworn to secrecy, sorry, radioland listeners! So lean back and enjoy the music, or at least until your audible sensors blow out! Blaster blastin' out!"

Blaster quickly flicked the off-air switch, allowing only the music to broadcast. Things were so much different on Earth, he smirked as he swiveled in his chair to his work station. KBOT was a registered radio station; it had to be, in order for him to be able to broadcast, since the communications center used radio frequencies. 107.1 FM to be exact. He had his FCC license and everything to broadcast his little hobby within a hundred mile radius of Autobot City. When on Earth, you play by Earth rules. At least it wasn't as bad as what the Protectobots had to go through, having to register with the federal and local governments as official rescue vehicles, mainly because it was illegal to have a vehicle impersonating police, fire, or rescue units, even if you were the vehicle in question.

Funny how things happen, Blaster smirked to himself, listening intently to different radio and digital broadcasts from all over the quadrant, trying to pick out bits and pieces of anything in particular. It was a unique gift of his's, being able to listen to many different transmissions and give them all undivided attention, all at the same time.

At that moment, it was mostly static, some news programs with highlights similar to his, minus the wayward Dinobot, Imus in the Morning, and digital transmissions from Cybertron and Junk. Rewind and Eject, his mini-cassette companions, were also aiding the the monitoring, though Blaster had a sinking suspicion they were paying more attention other things, Rewind to a CD-ROM of Encyclopaedia Galactica, Eject to the play-by-play of last night's doubleheader Yanks versus Red Sox.

Sort of like him listening to the music he was broadcasting.

A strobe light suddenly flashed next to his station.

_"Cybertron to Autobot City. Blaster, you rockin'?"_

"I'm rockin', and I'm rollin', Cav! Lay me some video and some news!" Blaster flicked on the vidscreen. A nanosecond later, the female designate's featureless face flicked onscreen. Cavalier was incapable of showing emotion outwardly due to the design of her face, but her eyes sparked with excitement.

_"Hot time in the old town tonight, Blast-man! We just got sensor readings from the warpgate at our end of the neighbourhood showing major tachyon fluxes. You know what that means, amigo?"_

"No, but I've got a feeling you'll tell me."

_"It means something big passed through there. Nothing visual, save this."_ The monitor flickered to the Cybertronian warpgate, where the vortex fluxed, broke apart, then reformed. A slight haze of suddenly appeared in the shape of an Earth space shuttle, then vanished. The screen flipped back to the young Autobot. _"That's not the only thing. Astrotrain may be cloaked, but the tachyon he's dragging from the warpgate's giving us a major clue in what direction he's going."_

"Straight to Unicron's head."

_"Exactly."_

"Stay on the horn, kiddo. I'm hailin' the chief." Blaster switched over to the intercom. "Hey, Rodimus, I think you and the Prof should hear this! We have confirmation from Cybertron of Decepticon activity!"

_"I'm on my way up, Blaster!"_ Rodimus confirmed. Five seconds later, Perceptor confirmed his arrival. Not one minute passed when both the leader and the "professor" entered the communications tower.

"Okay, Cav, what's the story?" Rodimus demanded.

Quickly, Cavalier recapped what she had told Blaster, using more elaborate scientific words for Perceptor to pick out and stadegic defense for Rodimus.

"Amazing! I would have never thought of using tachyon traces in searching for the cloaked vessel! Wonderful detective work, Cavalier!" Perceptor commented. "I must return to the device and utilize this new revelation!"

_"Warpath's got sky patrols up,"_ she continued, _"triple-duty, and we've set up proximity sensor relays all around Unicron's head and Cybertron, in case the Decepticons get sneaky. Everyone's on red alert, though I don't think the Decepticons have any intention to attacking with such a small fleet. At the speed Astrotrain came out of the warpgate, it's safe to say that there's probably only ten Decepticons with him, max."_

"Nothing else accompanied Astrotrain?"

_"Negatory, amigo. Ranger's got his optics glued to the surveillance; if anything happens, he'll let us know."_

"Good job, Cav," Rodimus nodded.

_"Found it all out myself!"_ she beamed, just as a blue hand smacked the backside of her head. With a grumble, she added, _"Ranger noticed the warpgate fluxes..."_ she turned to face the unseen attacker. _"But I'm the one who figured out the tachyon traces!"_

_"Smart-ass,"_ Ranger mumbled offscreen.

"Great work, both of you," the leader smirked. "Blaster, keep monitoring. Eject, who won last night?"

"Sox, in the eleventh inning. Two out, bases loaded. Clemens lost control of his pitch and smacked Conseco smack in the gut. They walked the last run! Can you believe that!" Eject continued ranting about Roger Clemens as Rodimus glanced over at Blaster.

"You asked, my man," Blaster held up his hands in defense. "You know as well as me that Clemens is a touchy subject with him."

"Clemens signed with the Yanks six years ago. Eject, you still holding a grudge?"

"Of course I'm still holding a grudge, that backstabbing Yank-lovin' bastard-"

"Did I ask the wrong question," the leader shook his head. Pressing the intercom button, he then ordered, "All Autobots to the War Room, pronto! This includes the Dinobots, Grimlock. Perceptor, keep working." To Blaster, he added, "Keep monitoring frequencies and alert me if there's any change."

"Roger will-do, Rodimus!" the red and yellow Autobot saluted, turning back to the screen. Cavalier was still online.

_"My, this is becoming fun!"_ she chortled. _"Too bad they're not letting me at the gunner station."_

"You, the trigger-happy plasma freak? No!" Blaster smirked sardonically. "So, anything I can do for you before signing out?"

_"See if he'll play Denis Leary,"_ Ranger whispered offscreen. Cavalier shushed him.

_"Yeah...'Dinosaur Vacuum'. Monster Magnet. For the Dinobots, with love."_

Blaster laughed shortly. "I'll see what I can do, Cav. Blaster, blastin' off."

_"Thanks, amigo. Cybertron out."_

Though for the most part, Autobots were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they took their seats in the conference room. Wheelie even attended, due to the fact Daniel was in school and he was bored.

"Word in from Cybertron, gang," Rodimus began, skipping formalities. "Though Astrotrain has the light refractor, they found that the tachyon produced from the warpgate had given away their position. They are heading for Cybertron, all right."

"So when are we gonna bust Decepticon heads?" Slingshot, one of the Aerialbots, demanded.

"As soon as Perceptor finishes whatever he's got cooking," Rodimus retorted, looking over at Spike for any further progress.

"I would give it another hour, the way he's working," Spike answered.

"Professor and Mary-anne working round the clock to get us off the island, little buddy," Wreck-Gar added.

"Here's the plan: after the device is finished, I'm taking Kup, Arcee, Springer, and the Dinobots. Skylynx, you're with us. We'll meet outside in an hour."

"Sounds good to me, lad," Kup nodded.

"Then it's settled," Rodimus stood. "We want to be on red alert at all times. No telling what Galvatron has up his sleeve."

"He pulled out one ace last night," Springer retorted. "How many could he have?"

"Hopefully, only that one, but there's no telling," The leader shook his head. "Galvatron's just full of surprises."

***

Cybertronian Space

_This is familiar_ , Artemis thought to herself as she sat against the bulkhead, arms crossed over her chest. What she had to do to get paid. There had better be a big slottin' bonus for this mission. The Quintessons left the Decepticons plenty of energon to keep them more than happy for more than a stellar cycle; they could spare a few bars and the galactic credits she was promised to boot. Sirian and Terran mechanics didn't accept energon, though, but the galactic credits were like debit cards. Swipe them through the credit card reader, and the exchange was extracted from them, whether US dollars, British pounds, Sirian toraks, whatever.

_(be cautious on this "mission", artemis. galvatron is scheming.)_

Dammit. It was that phantom voice of reason again.

_(when isn't he scheming?)_ she demanded mentally. _(if schemes were currency, he would have bought the entire galaxy by now.)_

_(just keep in mind what you are doing.)_

_(don't worry, whoever you are. i'm always thinking about that.)_

_(do you think about how the next mission may be your last?)_

_(eh? you mean mortality? i die when i die. simple as that. i'm not a leader, so i don't become "one with the matrix". i don't go to some higher plane. it's just oblivion. nothing else.)_

_(remember.)_

And the voice quieted, leaving only the creaking of the vacuum outside against Astrotrain's hull and whatever conversation was in progress.

She then looked around at the other faces surrounding her. Galvatron decided to have Cyclonus and the Sweeps ride inside, mainly because the light refractor wouldn't work on anything smaller than Astrotrain. It wasn't crowded, at least; she could stand up and stretch if she wanted to.

However, she liked it right where she was, back to the wall, able to see what everyone was doing. No one could sneak up on her, no one could get the drop on her.

Artemis glanced out of the front viewscreen. Cybertron was still a ways off, Unicron's head barely a speck. There was about an hour longer in the trip.

Patience and paranoia did not make good partners, she concluded.

***  
Cybertron

"Still tracking them!" Ranger exclaimed, staring at the screen so intently, Cavalier was certain his optics would blow apart. "Losing some of the tachyon trail. Faint, but still trackable!"

"Fun, fun, fun," Cavalier smirked, studying the three screens in front of her. One was showing the tachyon tracking, one, Unicron's head, and the last, the dark side of Cybertron. "Okay, they are entering proximity sensor range...and...bingo! Warpath, do your thing!"

"Kaboom!" the dark red Autobot hit the intercom. "Sky patrols, guard up to red alert. Be prepared to kablooie any bogie who gets near Cybertron!"

***

`"Entering Cybertron detection grid,"` Soundwave warned. `"Proximity sensor field has been activated. The Autobots know we are here."`

"Let them," Galvatron sneered. "Scourge, Sweeps, take care of their pitiful sky patrol. Astrotrain, continue on course at top speed. I can taste the victory at hand."

_Then why do I smell your defeat this mission?_ Artemis questioned mentally. Her doubts in Galvatron's bold plan gnawed at her self-conscious. It was up to her to succeed in this mission. She wanted her money, dammit, and she wasn't going to allow a megalomanic Decepticon with delusions of grandeur weasel out of paying her.

_(is that the only reason you're doing this?)_

_(who the hell are you, anyway? and it's none of your slottin' business!)_

The voice fell silent.

With a grumble, she stood as Scourge threw open the cargo door and leapt out, followed by the other Sweeps. Deftly, fighting the vacuum, Soundwave forced the door closed once more.

"Now, onto success and victory!" Galvatron cried out.

***

"Sweeps have been deployed!" Ranger alerted.

"Totally visible and larger than life!" Cavalier added.

"Red alert, Sky Patrol! You have Sweeps coming into your sector!" Ranger shouted.

_"Stormrave to base, we have visual,"_ the sky patrol commander replied, her voice betraying the slightest glint of enthusiasm. _"We're engaging the enemy, kicking tailpipe and taking no prisoners."_

"Watch your own tailpipe, Stormrave, or kaboom!" Warpath warned.

The dark red short-range space fighter led the charge. Stormrave was as impulsive as Cavalier, but she had the training and experience to back up her mouth.

"Okay, troops, this is it! Do, or die!" she screamed through the comm link as she let loose a volley of laser fire against the fleet of Sweeps. "Let's show these rejects who really controls Cybertron space!"

"Stormrave!" the light blue fighter flanking her left warned, then erupted into plasma flames as Scourge's missiles found home.

"Starbolt!" She cried out, too late, banking to avoid contact with the burning Autobot. "Stormrave to base, Starbolt's down! Repeat, Starbolt's-"

Space could not carry sound.

However, the "YEEEE-SLOTTIN'-HAW!" from Starbolt's gunny-happy brother-in-arms, Firestreak, echoed into Stormrave's comm. Whether he knew the fighter shot down was indeed his best friend or he just decided to attack, no-holds-barred, Firestreak was doing something insanely stupid.

"FIRESTREAK, FALL BACK!" Both Stormrave and Cavalier shouted through the comm links.

More plasma fire exploded around them. The sky patrol commander ordered a group nose pitch to pull up behind the enemy as Firestreak launched two photon missiles, pulling back as he did.

A Sweep followed him, but due to the bulkiness of the Decepticon design, could not manage the tricky manoeuver the much more streamline and lighter Autobot fighters pulled off. He stalled out, pitching nose-over-tail, towards Unicron's head, crashing into one of the horn-like pylon protrusions.

"Execute!" Stormrave ordered as she pulled up, her thrusters reacting properly to her "climb". The group followed faithfully as Scourge and his horsemen attempted to turn and face their opponents, though their actions were far too slow.

Three more Sweeps joined the previous one in Oblivion as Scourge called his Sweeps to fall back and regroup.

"Sweeps are running! I repeat, Sweeps are running!" Stormrave announced to base. Her voice suddenly choked. "One causality: Starbolt."

"I copy, Stormwave," Cavalier nodded, repeating what she was told to Warpath, fighting back emotions. Starbolt was one of her close friends. He would be sorely missed. "The proximity sensors are going crazy by Unicron's head. Better check it out."

"Warpgate is active again!" Ranger called out.

"Yowsa! More Decepticons?" Warpath demanded.

"No..." Ranger smiled broadly. "It's Skylynx!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the cavalry has arrived!" Cavalier whooped.

"Firestreak, Sunflare, back up Skylynx!" Stormrave ordered. "Kismet, Longshock, with me. We're babysitting the Sweeps."

"We're gonna give 'em a spankin' they'll never forget!" Kismet, the only other female in Sky Patrol, chortled.

"Stormrave, request to accompany you!" Firestreak demanded formally, his voice undertoning excited vengeance.

"Denied, Firestreak!"

"But-"

"We don't have time for this! You have your orders!"

Firestreak said nothing else, only growled as he rolled from the main group with Sunflare, heading towards the oddly-shaped moon.

Perceptor had figured that the reason Astrotrain's cloaking device only worked with direct light in non-atmospheric conditions, such as the vacuum of space. It would explain why he didn't remain cloaked in descent into Earth's atmosphere, with the ambient light bouncing off air particles. With that information, as well as Cavalier's revelation of the tachyons, Perceptor realised that in order to trick the refractor was to either overload it, create an atmospheric environment, around whatever was being cloaked, or release a burst of tachyons in the area, the tachyon particles attaching to anything metal. Though unnoticeable on visible substances, it would glow gold on anything invisible. However, if they didn't know where to look, the tachyons were useless. Since the second answer was all but impossible to duplicate, that left the two others.

The "device" was actually a two-part plan combining the remaining options. Part one was to venture to where the proximity sensors were going off the most, then flood the area around Unicron's head with blinding light flares. This would theoretically overload any cloaking device temporarily, rendering any cloaked ships partially visible. Part two was to launch a tachyon-laced missile, which would not only inflict some damage on the Decepticon transport but would also disperse the tachyons to create a false image so it was highly visible to track.

Of course, Springer's suggestion of blowing up Unicron's head while the Decepticons were inside would have worked as well.

Springer was only kidding, of course. The head of Unicron had become a Cybertronian moon for a reminder to Transformers everywhere of what evil they had encountered, and that no matter how large or evil an event was, the Autobots, standing together, could bring it down. It was no longer menacing; instead, it had become a symbol of hope that one day, Cybertron would know peace again.

"So what's the plan, Rod?" Springer had asked just after they left Earth's atmosphere.

"Galvatron's not going to let this be easy for us," Rodimus began. "No matter what, he'll continue on whatever he has in mind. Our goal is to retrieve the macrochip at best; at worst, we destroy it. The Decepticons are on a stealth mission; already Sky Patrol had encountered the Sweeps, and Base Command are still tracking Astrotrain. The Sweeps aren't our concern at this point; there's no telling who else Galvatron is accompanied by. Cyclonus is a major possibility. We're probably going to be looking as at least five other Decepticons barring the entrance."

"There's two entrances, Rodimus," Springer corrected. "Unicron's eyes and mouth."

"Unicron's mouth leads nowhere to the brain system. That's where Galvatron would most likely be. Skylynx will keep watch outside and keep Astrotrain at bay. The only way Astrotrain will fight is in robot form, and, according to Perceptor, he would need to decloak to transform, let alone fight. Keep in mind we'll also have Cybertronian Defenses as well covering the area. Remember, we're the backup."

"Stop Galvatron. Got it." Springer smirked.

"Dinobots bash Decepticons!" Slag stated excitedly. His brethren agreed heartfully.

"This is extremely unothrodox for the Decepticons," Kup added. "Normally, he would send the entire Decepticon army for overkill."

"He's probably realising that brute force is not the way to do things," Arcee suggested.

"It not?" Grimlock questioned, cocking his head.

"No, you bozo, it's not," Rodimus snorted.

"I seriously doubt that. To tell you the truth, it reminds me of a tactic Ironhide and I with some other Autobots pulled on Seti Seven during the Rokkan occupations. We were searching for weaknesses in the slave pens. It's basic search and retrieve with diversion."

"So you're saying Decepticons are using an Autobot tactic?" Springer demanded.

"It's a universal tactic for patient soldiers. Decepticons rarely have the patience for maneuvers like that." His voice grew sullen with realisation.

"Artemis," Rodimus whispered.

"Aye, lad." Kup nodded slowly. "My thoughts exactly."

***

"Decepticons, follow me!" Galvatron shouted through the commlink. Astrotrain's cargo door was wide open, the cabin as vacuum as the space around the transport. Since voice did not carry, they relied on the communicators to talk to one another.

Galvatron lept from the transport, igniting his internal jets towards the giant decapitated head revolving around the planet. The others followed, save Artemis and Soundwave. Already planned and without a word, the broad-shouldered Decepticon took Artemis by the waist and lit his own thrusters, following suit with the others.

"Stale ghosts," she mumbled as they closed in on the right eye, green crystaline glass shards menacing. Soundwave agreed with a slight nod as they touched down inside the eye socket of the once-omnipotent giant.

"Maybe you should consider a flight upgrade," Galvatron remarked coolly to the mercenary as they gathered for a very brief meeting.

"It would take the challenge out of everything," she smirked.

Galvatron harrumphed, then addressed the rest.

"I will take Soundwave and Artemis into the database. The rest of you, guard here. Alert us if any Autobots step foot inside and hold them off. This shouldn't take too long."

"Of course, Lord Galvatron," Cyclonus spoke for the rest of group. Thudercracker and Desertstrike nodded in agreement as the group broke up, three in one direction, the others staying put.

As the three walked, Galvatron in the lead, of course, Artemis stiffened at the soft moaning surrounding her, reminding her of an old wolf snapping in his sleep at dreams of the past. She could see that Galvatron heard them as well, and he was doing a damn good job of not allowing his posture to betray the nervousness in his eyes. Only Soundwave portrayed pure stoism. Being superparanoid didn't help her as she kept her rifle ready, keeping her optics trained on shadows.

"Unicron mumbles, even in death," Galvatron growled, as if reassuring himself as well as Artemis. "He forgets he has been beaten, destroyed. The one thing the Autobots did useful. Ill luck they weren't destroyed as well."

"A dead god," she whispered, remembering an Earth story she had read once from a recommendation of a friend. _"In his house of R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming"_ HP Lovecraft had written almost eighty years ago. The passage fit perfectly, alerting the danger. Change the place and person. _"In his orbit around Cybertron dead Unicron waits dreaming"._

She had whispered the modified passage aloud. Galvatron snorted, thinking the mercenary was being poetic, not catching the direness nor the origin.

The three entered a large metal cavern. Blown monitors arranged in a lopsided globe loomed overhead, only a couple still functioning, though static rendered the images totally incomprehensible. On the walls of the spheroid cavern were burnt-out techno-organic computer equipment, lining the circumference save for the gap of the entrance.

Replacing her rifle in the holster restraints on her leg, Artemis stared up in wonder at the malfunctioning brain center of the fearsome planet-eater.

"Now," Galvatron sneered greedily. "Soundwave, prepare to uplink and download. Artemis, stand guard if anyone gets by our first line of defense." He pulled out the chip from a compartment on his left arm. "Now, the moment of truth, the time of the Decepticons to retake the homeworld is nigh!"

_Just as long as I get paid, i don't care, Artemis grumbled inwardly, hollowly, turning on her enhanced vision and readying her rifle once more._

__

***

"Close in on the backside," Rodimus ordered Skylynx, studying the scenario outside from the giant Autobot's viewscreen. "Keep scanning for any tachyon traces."

"My sensors are picking up minute tachyon readings," Skylynx stated, "to our far port side. Too isolated to be a random incident."

A hailing frequency opened suddenly.

_"Skylynx and crew, this is Sunflare of Sky Patrol,"_ the voice of the young yellow and orange fighter called out. _"We're your back-up, yours to command."_

"The lad's got spunk," Kup commented.

"Sunflare, this is Rodimus Prime," the leader stated through the channel. "When you get a sight of Astrotrain, hold him off while we take care of the other Decepticons."

_"Will do, sir. Sky Patrol out."_

"Springer, lock photon discharger onto the tachyon field," Rodimus ordered.

"Consider it done," Springer agreed, arming up the weapon.

"Arcee, lock on with the missile."

"You got it!" the female designate gave her leader a thumbs-up, swiveling in the chair and peering into the scope.

"Skylynx, are you picking up Decepticon signals? What are their positions?"

"Six inside Unicron; three just inside the right eye, probably keeping guard. There are more deeper inside, though shielding is too thick to know where they are exactly."

"Grimlock, you and the Dinobots will distract the guards."

"We get to bash brains?" Grimlock questioned.

"Knock yourself out," Kup smirked. "Have fun."

The Dinobots cheered jubilantly.

"Charged up and locked on!" Springer then exclaimed.

"Locked on!" Arcee also affirmed.

"Photon discharge, fire!" Rodimus ordered.

The blinding charge of light particles exploded from the makeshift cannon into space, ripping through the otherwise-invisible tachyon specks. The definite shape of Astrotrain came into view for exactly five seconds.

"Tachyon missile, fire!" Rodimus shouted after three seconds.

Just as Astrotrain compensated for the blast of light, the titanium missile slammed him broadside, sending him into a roll. Tachyons released, the tiny displacement particles coated the Decepticon transport, glowing it golden as his dark grey hull cloaked once more, though the gold glow remained.

"Astrotrain sighted!" The call of Sky Patrol rang through the speakers. Two streaks, one yellow and orange, one red and purple, surrounded the silhouette of the Decepticon transport as he pulled out of the roll.

"Now's our turn!" Rodimus commanded, his smile betraying the pride of Perceptor's plan working. "Skylynx, come up port side of Unicron's head! Dinobots, the Decepticons are in the right eye! Attack them and hold them off while the rest of us go in. Skylynx, follow up on Sky Patrol until we radio you back. We're doing our own search and rescue, but we're throwing in our own counterattack."

"Lord Galvatron!" Astrotrain's frantic voice called out over the comm link. "The Autobots have found my position!"

Galvatron growled frustrated, the chip in his hand partially inserted into a dataport. Soundwave, in cassette player mode, was already linked to the computer station.

"Decepticons!" He ordered angrily. "Astrotrain has allowed the Autobots to break through. Hold them off!"

Artemis nodded, taking out a small canister from her ammo compartment, and loaded it into her rifle. Cocking it, she hit the ground on one knee and flipped up her scope. One of her more nastier surprises she had picked up from an arms dealer on Betelguese VIII, the concussion flare would overload the sensors of anyone it struck as well as anyone else within a twenty-foot circle, rendering them unconscious. The downfall was that. because of it's mass and power that it needed to be launched, it had a bad recoil that; if she was any smaller, it would rip off her arm at the shoulder.

She assumed the three up front did similar, for three seconds after she was ready, Cyclonus's voice affirmed, "Prepared with heavy artillery, my Lord."

Galvatron only smiled wickedly as he thrust the chip into the dataport. A small, almost unnoticeable, vibration surrounded the three.

There was a massive electrical discharge as Soundwave's compact form was blasted from the uplink across the circular room, slamming into the far wall. He transformed, not because he wanted to, but because the blast had disorientated him. He shook his head, making small noises which resembled a human's short exhalation of breath...a sigh?

Artemis's head snapped to her right, over at Soundwave's fallen body. He pushed himself up onto his knees, still shaking his head.

`"Sy-system ov-ov-overload,"` he stuttered, falling on his hands. `"Att-tt-tt-empting to comp-p-p-pensate..."`

"Did you retrieve the information?" Galvatron barked.

`"Aff-ffirmative..."` the disorientated Decepticon retorted, pushing himself back on his knees. Bringing one hand to his eject button, he missed once, twice, and finally struck the button. `"R-Rumble, Frenz-zy, eject. I require as-s-s-ssist-t-t-tance."`

The two mini-cassettes flew out, transforming into their humanoid forms.

"As the fleshlings would say, holy shit!" Frenzy shouted. "My audio sensors are still ringing!"

"Mine too!" Rumble agreed, helping his master onto his feet. Frenzy did the same on the other side.

"Then we have what we came for," Galvatron laughed. "Let's slip the dogs of war, Decepticons!"

_Oh, now he's quoting human plays,_ Artemis growled inwardly, her worries on Soundwave. As much as she wanted to help her only ally, she needed to assure the Decepticon's success. Bringing her attention back to center, she called, "Are you all right, Soundwave?"

`"Comp-pp-pensat-t-ting,"` he assured. `"Equalr-r-r-ribr-rium is st-t-tablizing."`

Suddenly, a loud, deep, painful moan filled their auditories, vibrating the air.

**"WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY DREAMING?"** a deep, baritone voice demanded from all around the Decepticons. **"GALVATRON? YOU ARE BOLD TO RETURN TO ME WITHOUT FEAR. TOO BOLD, IN FACT."**

"Unicron," Galvatron took a step back, then, bringing back his composure, the grinned maniacally. "You are inoperative, Unicron; you are merely a scrap of twisted metal floating in the vacuum of space. You are dead."

**"AM I? I FUNCTION EVEN IN DEATH, GALVATRON. AND, THOUGH YOU BELIEVE OTHERWISE, YOU AND YOUR MINIONS STILL BELONG TO ME."**

Artemis shivered as the ghost spoke. She didn't dare look back at her leader. Not breaking her thousand meter stare, she called out.

"Lord Galvatron? What is it?"

"A ghost! Nothing that concerns you, mercenary! Keep your post!"

**"YOU ARE A FOOL, GALVATRON. AS YOU WERE, AS YOU SHALL ALWAYS BE."**

Galvatron abruptly gurgled something intangible as he froze, his face contorted with some strange emotion.

Galvatron was not the only victim of Unicron's mindcrushing assault.

Desertstrike shouted a warning as the Dinobots flew through the eye of Unicron, transforming into their fearsome reptilian modes. She and Thundercracker opened heavy fire.

"We're missing someone!" the Seeker shouted, catching in his peripheral vision Cyclonus, frozen stiff, his mouth making strange movements as his optivs widened in fear.

"Yoohoo!" Grimlock paused his mighty attack, walking up to Cyclonus and staring him in the face as the other Dinobots continued their assault on the other two. The Decepticon made no indication he noticed Grimlock. This only angered the tyrannosaur Autobot. Grimlock struck Cyclonus with his nearly-useless front limbs, then transformed, studying the frozen Decepticon. After rapping on Cyclonus's forehead with his knuckles, he hit his commlink. "Rodimus, Grimlock here."

On the other side of the head, Rodimus, Kup, Arcee and Springer ventured down optice passage, weapons ready.

_"Rodimus, Grimlock here."_

"What is is, Grimlock?"

_"Cyclonus not moving."_

"What?" Springer demanded aloud.

"What do you mean by not moving?" Rodimus asked.

_"Not moving. He just standing there. Look like he terrified of mighty Dinobots!"_

"Maybe there's something more, Grimlock," the leader suggested. "Keep guard there. We'll be along shortly."

_"Gotcha, Rodimus."_

"Something's not right, lad," Kup muttered.

"Stormrave, they're not moving," Longshock, a green and purple fighter, observed.

"Something's not right here," Stormrave commented, pitching towards the floating Sweeps. She dived, pulling up less than two meters, buzzing Scourge. He did not make any attempt to retaliate. "Cybertron Defense, this is Stormrave. The Sweeps are dead in the water."

_"What?"_ Cavalier's voice demanded. _"'Dead in the water?' How?"_

"You've got me, Cav," the red and white fighter replied. "They're not doing anything. I just buzzed Scourge. He's not responding."

_"It might be a Decepticon trick,"_ Cavalier stated. _"Don't get your guard down."_

"I'm not planning on it. Kismet, Longshock, circle the Sweeps and keep them contained in case they do come to."

***

This was not good, Artemis growled. She stood, switching her rifle back to laser with a flick of the hammer, and stormed up to Galvatron.

"Lord Galvatron, we should leave now!" she suggested. "Soundwave's incapacitated, the Autobots have penetrated the guard, we need to leave now!"

Galvatron did not respond.

"Rumble, Frenzy, get Soundwave out of here," she ordered to the spies.

_"Lord Galvatron! Soundwave!"_ Desertstrike's tone suggested overwhelm. _"The Dinobots are storming forward! Cyclonus isn't responding to anything!"_

`"Pattern de-detected," Soundwave cursed. "Unicr-ron-"`

"Unicron's behind it," Artemis growled. "Get out of here. I'll meet you back at Astrotrain. Astrotrain!"

"What is it?" the transport demanded.

"Meet us on the dark side. Make yourself dead until we get there. Galvatron and Cyclonus are not responding."

"Neither are the Sweeps!" Astrotrain commented.

Soundwave was right. Unicron had his minions! She had believed the dead god meant all Decepticons!

She was about to take Galvatron over her shoulder--

\-- when the voices started anew.

_(arty, look! a perfect scene!)_ the fingernails-on-chalkboard voice of her dead rival Starscream entered her mind. _(galvatron's unable to do a thing! your revenge can be completed!)_

She faltered, her optics wide in surprise, then narrowed shortly after.

_(quickly, while he's down! you do not know how long he'll be under unicron's distraction!)_

Coolly, she rose her rifle point blank, a growl from her vox center.

She pulled the trigger.

She watched with cold humour as Galvatron's face imploded, electronics sparking, as he fell, dead, like his master.

She turned to leave, stopping suddenly, now totally terrified.

She faced one of the voices.

She faced Optimus Prime!

_(this is what makes you a decepticon, artemis.)_ The smooth voice of her old friend betrayed little anger. _(this is why you left the autobots; for revenge.)_

_(he destroyed you!)_ she snapped back. _(he was the reason you left, he was the reason you died! i've waited for this moment for an eternity.)_

_(and now you have it,)_ the first voice, Starscream, smirked. He was now visible, to her right, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the computer-clad wall. _(galvatron will die. do it, arty; do it like you did just now in your head. you have the gun in your hand, and galvatron still is frozen.)_

_(no.)_ She realised then that what she had played out was all in her mind. Optimus Prime and Starscream were only figments of her imagination, two sides of her waging out to win control. _(i will not destroy him. it is not my way.)_

_(unicron betrays you, arty,)_ Starscream warned, his grin widened. _(you should have destroyed galvatron while you had the chance.)_

_(what?)_ both her and the spectre of Prime demanded.

A charge and discharge of massive laser energy rang true in her audio sensors, slamming into her left shoulder, sending jolts of antagonising pain racking through her very being. She fell back with a cry, her back slamming into the cold metal floor.

"There is your payment, mercenary," Galvatron snarled, the barrel of his cannon smoking. "There is your reward for betrayal."

Her pain-filled eyes stared up at the Decepticon leader's anger-contorted face.

"But why, my lord?" she stampered.

"I trust Unicron less than I trust the Autobots," he growled. "That is why I allow you to live...for now. If you dare cross me again, I will not hesitate to destroy you."

He walked over her fallen body, his foot catching her left arm, now useless. She screamed as the few nerve circuits and scraps of metal holding on ripped free, severing her arm from the rest of her body.

In agony, she realised the betrayal as one of the working monitors played back what transpired in her mind a few short minutes ago, including the images of Starscream and Prime that invaded her head.

"No..." her head fell back from exhaustion, the impact ringing her nerves. "No..."

Why was she still conscious?

"It's a pity, really," Starscream's voice retorted, though this time it seemed outside her ravaged mind. "You'll probably be joining me soon."

She closed her optics with a groan.

"You should have listened, Arty."

"Don't call me Arty, Starscream."

"Prime was right, though. It was your vengeance that made you one of us." He glanced up at the monitors. "Amazing what technology can do these days...even bring old ghosts to life..."

"Leave me to die in peace."

"What makes you think death is peaceful?" Starscream smirked. "Look at me; here I am, stuck in a limbo where some can see me and hear me, but most don't. You're one of the lucky ones."

"Lucky me. Leave me."

"But Arty, I cam here just to talk to you."

"I said, don't call me Arty-"

"Shh!" he pressed a finger to his mouth, a little exaggerated. "It sounds like someone's coming."

He was right; she could make out heavy vibrations from running footsteps. A few seconds later, Arcee and Springer burst through the opening, scanning the area.

"There it is!" Springer shouted, racing to the control panel and pulling out the macrochip from its housing. The monitors above filled with static once more. "Come on, Arcee, the Decepticons are getting away!"

Arcee nodded, tripping over the twisted black steel of Artemis's left arm. The other female designate glanced back, finally noticing the wounded mercenary partially in the shadow.

"Springer! It's Artemis! She's been shot!" she cried, kneeling on the right side of the black Transformer. "She's still alive! We should get her to a mechlab..."

"I'm already as good as dead, Autobot," Artemis snapped. "Galvatron's your main concern. He's got information about Unicron's offenses and defenses...leave me."

"Come on, Arcee, she has a point!" Springer ordered.

"I'll only hinder you. Go!" Artemis snapped, pushing Arcee away with her good arm, though pain still raked her chassis.

Arcee stood, staring down at the Decepticon, nodded, and followed Springer out.

"Autobots," Starscream scoffed. "So concerned about everything but their own well-being."

"Please, Starscream, leave me in peace, I beg of you."

"You...beg of me, Arty? That's a first." The ghost knelt beside her, a translucent hand resting on her shoulder, above the gaping wound. It was chilling, as though death creeped in. "I'm only here to make you comfortable...I truly wish I could help ease your pain physically..."

"I know you better than that," she coughed, blackish-blue fuel/oil mixture trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"True, but right now, I'm all you have." Starscream's head gazed upward, as if looking out a window. "Galvatron is retreating-might I say, your plan of having Astrotrain play dead was wonderful; those Seeker wannabes fell for it and broke formation-and the Autobots return to Cybertron. We are alone, Arty. Just the two of us, a ghost and a dying mercenary. Truly the odd couple, eh?"

"I asked you to leave me, Starscream. I wish to die alone."

"I can't let you do that, Arty. If you die, you'll end up joining me in limbo here. So you might as well get used to it. I'll be all you'll have for the rest of time."

"I'd say I would be in hell."

"That's what I think." Starscream smirked his cock-eyed smirk. His gaze shifted to the opening. "Funny. I wasn't expecting anyone else..."

"Who's there?" Artemis demanded, more to her rival than whoever was outside.

"Artemis? How bad are your wounds?"

"Blitzwing?" both her and Starscream questioned, bewildered. The banished Decepticon snuck into the brainroom, cautiously glancing over his shoulder every so often. He ventured to her side, getting on his hands and knees.

"I had a feeling Galvatron would do this," Blitzwing stated. "Had you been a real Decepticon, you would have fired on me. Soundwave would have brought me in to Galvatron. You saved me, Artemis; I can only repay the favour."

Gently, he picked her up, careful not to jolt her too much. Taking her severed arm in one hand, Blitzwing cautiously carried her out into the vacuum of space.

Her optics flickered, her head rolled loosely, her semiconscious mind taking in the fact that Blitzwing's Decepticon symbol had been scratched, scoured, and chipped.

He noted her curious look and laughed sardonically.

"A reminder," he stated as he launched off into orbit of Cybertron, "that I'm still Decepticon, though not one of Galvatron's. Stay with me, Artemis. I don't want to challenge Galvatron to pay you back."

Managing a weak smile, Artemis nodded somewhat as they entered the thin, artificial atmosphere of Cybertron. Minutes later, Blitzwing touched down in the center of Cybertron City, surrounded by the policebots.

"I am Blitzwing! I need to speak to Rodimus Prime!" he shouted over the din. It wasn't long before the crowd around Blitzwing and Artemis grew, and then parted as the Autobot leader made his way to the center of the commotion.

"Blitzwing, what happened?" Rodimus demanded, then noticed Artemis.

"Please, she helped me escape Galvatron's wrath. This is all I can do for her," Blitzwing pleaded.

"Springer! Kup! Get her to the medlab!" the leader ordered.

"Don't just stand there, lad!" Kup snarled at Springer, taking Artemis from Blitzwing's arms. She coughed again, a long, painful gasp which spewed more blackened oil from her mouth, as Kup and Springer raced to the infirmary.

"Thank you, Rodimus," Blitzwing nodded. "I think she wants to come back to the Autobots. If not...I'll be on Reicere, the Rejected Planet. There is a small group of Transformers there that will accept her. Again, thank you."

"Let him go," Rodimus ordered the policebots. "We'll do our best for her, Blitzwing."

The renegade Decepticon nodded, transforming into jet and taking off into the Cybertron night.

"Not to question authority, Rodimus," Cavalier whispered, "but why did you let him go?"

"If it wasn't for him, Cav, we would all be at the mercy of the Quintessons," he answered truthfully.

"So who's side is he on, anyway?" Stormrave asked.

"The Rejected," Ultra Magnus replied as he joined Rodimus to the medlabs. Cavalier and Stormrave followed, curious. "They're Transformers who have remained neutral, been banished, or left on their own accord. They tend to stay out of Cybertronian politics, going their own way."

***

Zodiac was believed to be part Junkion.

If it wasn't his quick and precise medic skills, making him a skilled surgeon, it was the fact that he talked like a Newfoundlander. His perpetual habit of quoting Maritime Canadian television shows like "This Hour Has Twenty-Two Minutes" and "Cod Co." reassured the speculation, as well as his sudden bursts of drunken sailor songs and dance.

Unlike any Junkion, however, he hated Star Trek.

When Springer and Kup burst into the medlab he was prepping, he was in the middle verse of "Old Black Rum" by Great Big Sea.

"Zodiac, front and center!" Kup shouted. "We've got a fresh one for you!"

"Repair or autopsy?" Zodiac broke his song and pulled out a tray of tools.

"Repair!" the old soldier snapped, setting the wounded Transformer on the operating bay. Zodiac took the severed arm and studied the wound. He took a step back when he noticed the insignia upon her breast.

"She's a Decepticon, me son!" he stated.

"Just fix her, Zodiac!" Springer retorted.

"Just an observation," the navy and maroon Autobot medic remarked defensively, picking up a miniature welding torch and sodder iron. As soon as he touched a nerve circuit in her shoulder, she screamed in agony. "Yippers; repair. Okay, me gal, this'll hurt like a bugger until I can turn off yer pain receptors. Kup, distract her while I work my magic." With a quick prodding around her neck, he found a release mechanism. Pressing it, a hatch at her shoulder joint popped open. "There we go..." Zodiac shook his head, surprised. "Autobot circuitry...will wonders never cease..." A quick tap to an internal button, and Artemis relaxed, her optics focusing up on the old warrior.

"I'm sorry, Kup," she whispered almost inaudibly. "I've not been in my right senses lately..."

"No, lass, you haven't," Kup shook his head, taking her free hand, holding it gently. "We're hoping maybe we can help you regain them."

"I don't know if I'm worth redemption, old friend."

"Kup?" Springer questioned from the far wall.

"Not now, lad..." Kup returned his attention on the wounded Transformer. "Why, Artemis? Why did you do it?"

She shook her head, wincing as something in her shoulder pulled, creating a rather uncomfortable numbing sensation.

"Kup, I asked ye to talk to her, not give her a friggin' inquisition!" Zodiac grumbled. "Don't make me ask Springer for his charming bedside manner.

"Dammit! Whatever the frig shot her, killed some high-end neural relays," Zodiac cursed, picking up the severed arm. "Some of these wiring systems are totally alien...looks like Terran components, some Sirian, some even Lithonean...I can reattach the arm, but ye'se gonna need a Junkion to get it to work again."

"And what are you?" Stormrave retorted as she and Cavalier followed Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime into the medlab.

"Yer momma was a Decepticon, Stormy," Zodiac grumbled.

"Your momma was a Junkion."

"Enough, you two," Rodimus ordered. "Zodiac, is she going to live?"

"Like I said, she's stable...the wound's serious, but not fatal. She would have died from lack of energy before the wound killed her. Whoever shot her was not aiming to kill."

"Galvatron shot me, if you must know..." Artemis hissed angrily. "I don't need you talking as though I was not here."

"Get some rest, me gal," Zodiac order, switching her sleep center. Her optics suddenly flickered and closed. "Back to my report, her arm'll be dead at her side unless ye can get Wreck-Gar and his crew to rework the circuitry to get it to work again. She'll be fine once she gets out of her sleep mode, with the exception of her arm, of course."

"Good. We'll take her back to Autobot City, then," Rodimus nodded.

"Are ye sure that's a good idea, me son?" Zodiac questioned. "I mean, she's fine to travel, but..." he shrugged, "...she is a Decepticon."

"I'll keep my eye on her," Kup retorted.

"It's okay, Zodiac," Rodimus stated, "we can handle her."

"Then I'll get some byes to board her on Skylynx," the medic nodded. "Stormrave, you and one of your Terran pigeon buddies, load her up on a stretcher."

"No problem," Stormrave smirked, giving Zodiac a forceful slap on the back. Hitting the intercom button near the door, she then ordered, "Hey, Sunflare, get over to the medlab, pronto."

"Lad, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay with her," Kup volunteered.

Rodimus nodded. "Seems she's more comfortable around you anyway. I doubt she would talk to the rest of us anytime soon."

Cavalier remained quiet as she observed the situation. Why were they making so much fuss about this Decepticon? Sure, Zodiac had that thing about helping all life, Autobot, Decepticon, or human, but why were Rodimus and the others showing special interest in her? Especially Kup?

She finally worked up the nerve to demand answers to her questions as Stormrave and Sunflare carried Artemis out. Kup followed the stretcher crew, Springer made a bee-line to the Defense center, and the leader-

\- Rodimus exited the medlab, seemingly brooding.

The much-smaller Autobot followed him, catching up to him halfway to the launch area.

"Hey, Rod?" Cavalier beckoned.

The flame-coloured leader turned his head somewhat towards her voice.

"Yeah, Cav?"

"Hey, I was just wondering..." she rubbed the back of her neck, unsure about how to word her question. Finally, she blurted out, "What's all the fuss with the Decepticon?"

"She was once an Autobot," he stated truthfully. "Kup knew her before the third War. We don't know much more else at this point."

"Oh..." That took her by surprise. An Autobot turned Decepticon? That was almost unheard of! Why would anyone in their right mind switch to the side of the bad guys?

She kept those questions to herself as she thought of one more.

"Do you mind if I go Earthside with you guys?" she questioned. "Change of scenery, y'know..."

"You're just as curious as us about Artemis, aren't you?"

She shrugged, her optics smiling. "That too..."

Rodimus smirked somewhat. "Could Ranger cover your post while you're Earthside?"

"Are you kidding?" She scoffed. "Ranger could handle the entire Cybertron Defense Center blindfolded! He may seem distracted, but he's one of the best!" As an afterthought, she added with a bit of pride, "After me, of course..."

"Of course," the leader nodded with a wink. "You've got five cycles to inform Warpath you're coming with us and meet back at Skylynx."

"Thanks, Rod!" she whooped, bolting toward the Defense Center, transforming into a small sportscar of Earth origin, squealing tires.

"Reminds me of a certain young punk I once knew," Kup's voice smirked from behind Rodimus. "Can't place his name, though..."

"I was never that cocky!" Rodimus protested, facing his mentor. "Okay, maybe a little..."

"Don't get me started, lad," Kup retorted, his ancient face loosing its humour.

"You're thinking again."

"And you know what I'm thinking about."

"Artemis."

"It's what she said to me before Zodiac activated her shutdown mode. That she wasn't worthy of redemption. Lad, I think she wants to return to the Autobots."

"She can't be trusted."

"I think she knows that too...I don't even think she can trust herself. She has nowhere else--"

"--save Reicere."

Kup shook his head. "Over my disconnected circuitry."

This took the Autobot leader by surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'll take responsibility for her, unless she decides to go to Reicere, which I seriously doubt. Artemis was not the one to enjoy being rejected."

Rodimus nodded. "I've never known you to fail, old friend."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"That arm's always caused you trouble, eh?"_  
>  _Black sipped her drink, set down the mug, and flexed her left hand. "I always had that burr in my rotator. Until Overlord practiced his chiropractic wonders, that is. Ratchet was able to repair it -- "_  
>  _"--but Ratchet is dead," the bartender shook his head._  
>  _Brash looked up from her hand. "He died when Megatron made his finl push on Autobot City."_  
>  _"Here, yes. Lessee...." The orange mech brought out a datapad and scrolled through its contents. "You see, I have no connection to this particular iteration, so I'm learning along with you."_  
>  _"I...thought you were -- "_  
>  _The bartender laughed, a warm, inviting laugh. "Oh, my girl! No, your mentor here was not me. An inspired sliver of the knowledge of my existence from another iteration that bled through to this one, but not me."_  
>  _"I don't understand." Brash took the mug with both hands and stared into its contents._  
>  _"It's all right, my girl. Take all the time you need. Don't dwell on it; you may not understand it, but you will, eventually. Maybe not in this iteration. But you will."_
> 
> ***


	4. The Dead God Laughs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Decepticons learn how deep Unicron reaches as a compromised Soundwave leaves them with only the dead god's influence to turn to. Meanwhile, on Autobot City back on Earth, the Junkions overrun the medlab.

***  
Charr

By the loud, boisterous sounds from Galvatron's mission team, the other Decepticons had little wonder that they had witnessed a rare victory.

"It is ours, Decepticons!" Galvatron shouted. More cheers rose from the crowd gathered outside the cavern system. "All of Unicron's secrets are ours!"

Only Swindle seemed unhappy as he noticed Artemis was not among the party. Grumbling, he took hold of Thundercrackers's arm.

"What happened to Arty?" the much smaller Decepticon demanded.

Galvatron overheard Swindle's question.

"Her services were no longer needed," he stated with a growl.

He led the other Decepitcons back into the caverns, though Swindle remained outside, staring at the steel door to their base.

"SCRAP!" he screamed. "She owes me money!"

*

The computer system, against one wall of a corridor connecting the War Room with the main chamber, was nowhere as sophisticated as what the Decepticons had used back when they controlled Cybertron, but it served Galvatron's purpose.

"Soundwave, connect and upload the information!" the leader chortled victoriously.

The broad-shouldered Decepticon staggered somewhat toward the computer, near the level platform that served as the uplink station.

"As you c-command, Gal-lvart-tron," Soundwave stuttered, transforming into his cassette player mode, connecting his download jack to the computer. The monitor blinked to life, filling with binary code that downloaded with an alarming speed.

"Soon, my Decepticons, Cybertron will be ours once more!" Galvatron leered as he leaned over the monitor, watching the codes upload with malicious interest.

Abruptly, the monitor went dark. The high-pitch electronic hum was still present, though no other indication of the computer's power was indicated.

Before Galvatron could react, bright green letters appeared on the blackened screen.

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...**

"WHAT?" Galvatron shouted, hammering his fist on the console.

**GREETINGS, GALVATRON. YOU DID NOT POSSIBLY BELIEVE YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THIS SO EASILY?**

"Lord Galvatron...?" Cyclonus ventured to his leader's side.

"Unicron mocks me, even in death!" Galvatron roared.

**I AM BEYOND "MOCKING", GALVATRON. I AM NOW PUNISHING. YOUR FOOLISH ACTIONS WILL COST YOU. YOU BELIEVE ME AS DEAD. EVEN IN DEATH, I AM STILL MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU.**

And, once again, a powerful electrical discharge sent Soundwave flying back, his mid-transformed mass bowling over the latecomer Swindle and crashing into the wall.

"Not again!" Rumble whined as Frenzy covered his optics with a wince. Unlike last time, they ejected before Soundwave uplinked to the computer.

"That's gotta hurt," Frenzy grumbled as the two rushed to their master's side for the second time in twelve megacycles.

"Will someone get Soundwave off me?" Swindle moaned painfully, trying feverishly to push the massive Decepticon off his back. Soundwave's head jerked involuntarily to the left, but, other than that, did not move.

"Come on, boss, snap out of it," Rumble pulled at the much larger Transformer's arm. Frenzy followed suit on the other side, and, together, were able to upright Soundwave into a sitting position, off of Swindle. The Combaticon groaned, pushing himself to his knees and, finally, stood, a little wobbly.

"What the hell happened?" Swindle demanded, his question voiced by others as well with various syntax.

The question went unanswered as Soundwave came to, staring around at his surroundings as though it was his first time on Charr.

`"Unit Soundwave, Polyhex, communications and espionage, version 1.0a, online, operating at 47 percent. Compensating."`

"That's his restart program," Frenzy growled. "Dammit!"

`"Antivirus detected unrecognised neural virus. Compensating."`

"What does that mean?" Cyclonus demanded.

"It means he downloaded a virus when he was connected to Unicron!" Rumble snapped, his optics widening in realisation as his body became rigid. A few seconds later, he turned to Frenzy. "Run your antivirus program."

"Way ahead of you." The other mini-cassette did the same. "I found a dormant program in my CPU, alien in origin. Can't crack it."

"Same here," Rumble brought his attention back to Soundwave. "Hey, boss, what's the nature and origin of the virus?"

`"Scanning...origin of virus detected: Alien, installed at time index 7693.23:47. Nature at time: dormant. Virus activated at time index 7694.09:02."`

"What does that mean?" Galvatron demanded angrily.

"It means that if we were with the boss when he uplinked to our computer system, we'd be in the same position as him right now," Frenzy explained. "Time index 7694.09:02 was only a few cycles ago."

"Unicron planted a virus within Soundwave that affected us as well," Rumble continued. "Me, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage, Ratbat, we're all infected. Frenzy and I weren't affected by the second stage because we weren't stored at the time Soundwave uploaded the information."

"Then that means..." Galvatron pivoted on his foot, aiming his arm cannon at the computer system and firing. The other Decepticons dove for cover as circuit boards and shards of plastic and metal flew with sparks of electricity. "Desertstrike, take Astrotrain and the Combaticons and head to Sirius II to 'acquire' a new computer system." He then turned to a smaller Decepticon, a thin violet and green male-designate with a strangely-mandibled face. "Mindsurge, deal with Soundwave. Find out what the virus is and destroy it."

"Of course, my lord," Mindsurge bowed his head.

"Lord Galvatron," Cyclonus then spoke, "what of the information from Unicron?"

Galvatron said nothing, only turned slowly to face his second-in-command. The built-up fury in his optics caused Cyclonus to wince internally. He had asked the wrong question.

"Information, Cyclonus?" With an angry wave of his arm toward Soundwave's prone body, Galvatron continued, his voice a series of growls. "Idiot! The 'information' was nothing but a virus! A virus that has claimed my spy master! Unicron had tricked us!"

"Lord Galvatron," Mindsurge then beckoned. "What if we could use the virus to our benefit? If I can figure out what the virus does exactly, depending, we could have a potent weapon."

"An excellent idea, Mindsurge. Report to me your findings after Soundwave has been purged of the virus. Unlike some other Decepticons, I cannot afford to lose him."

***  
Outer Sol system

"Not much of a victory, lass," Kup whispered to the motionless form of the wounded female designate. The others were nearer to the front of the passenger bay; he chose to stay with Artemis, deep within the cargo hold. He studied her form grimly, remembering the past. When he first met her, she was a smart-mouthed little troublemaker who constantly dragged her friend Orion Pax down with her in her schemes. Everything about the still Transformer was the exact opposite of what he remembered. She had a brilliant dark blue paint job in her younger days, lithely built; now, matte black and powerful. The only thing that was the same was her face. When she had looked at him, back at the Oregon Starport as well as in Zodiac's medlab, he saw the little Autobot from the past trapped in the mercenary's existence.

Kup attempted to push that old memory of the child from before the third War out of his head, to no avail. One side of him, his logical sensory, reminded him of the fact Artemis was a dangerous and powerful adversary, while the rest of him thought otherwise.

But, then again, logic didn't get him this far in life alone. He learned that his instincts were just as strong, and usually twice as right, as what logic demanded.

With a final sigh, he clapped a gentle hand on her intact shoulder. She looked so peaceful.

However, it was impossible to know how she was going to react once she awoke.

No, not impossible. Kup had theories. Some good, some bad, some neutral.

Artemis had always been full of surprises.

***

Even to Cybertronians, the mind remained the final frontier with its vastness. Though electronic, their brains were similar to humans in the even that, when broken down, neurons produced the electrical charges that brought on from as basic functions such as life support to much more complex thought and memory, intelligence.

Cybertronians, like humans, required a rest period, including a stage similar to REM sleep.

Cybertronians, like humans, could dream.

Artemis, in the forced state of rest, dreamed heavily, disturbed.

The dreamscape was barren, a seemingly endless sheet of brushed steel, the sky a starless black void.

No, black was not an exact way to describe the devoid of any colour. Black would have been some colour. This had no colour; no light existed in this realm. Paradoxaly, she could still see the unyeilding metal ground, though no shadow was cast underneath her.

"What's going on here?" she demanded aloud. Her voice sounded strange, breaking the absolute silence without any echo.

She did not expect an answer.

Regardless, she received one.

"You're having a nightmare," the annoyingly high-pitched voice of Starscream retorted. Artemis witnessed his form appear to her left out of her peripheral vision. His voice, too, lacked resonance.

"I must; you're here," she grumbled.

Starscream smirked.

"At least your charming sense of humour's returning," the dead Seeker chuckled, "dry as it is."

"So what is this place?" She demanded. "This isn't like anything I've ever dreamed before..."

"That's because it's not a dream, Artemis." Optimus Prime appeared to her right, his bright blue optics staring straight ahead. It was then she noticed that Starscream, too, stared forward. Neither of them moved. Only she seemed to possess movement in this realm.

Her old friend's words sunk in, chilling her to the endostructure.

"Not a dream?" she whispered.

"Your soul, as the fleshlings put it," Starscream replied. "We'd call it laser core, or spark..."

"A crossroads," Prime answered simply.

"A choice between three paths," Starscream added.

"One leads to loyalty," the former Autobot leader stated.

"One to betrayal," the Decepticon arial commander continued without a pause.

A silence.

"And the third?" Artemis questioned.

"Nothing," the two retorted together. The chill spread throughout her system at their uniformality, their bleakness of their voices, one soothing, one nerve-jarring, blending together to create an eerie effect.

"Then which path should I take?" She shivered.

"It is only for you to decide," the Prime spectre answered.

"And what if I do nothing?"

There was no answer to this one, save the two ghosts fading from her sight.

There was an explosion high above her head, a great clap of white noise as light overloaded her sensors, blinding her.

And then it was night. True night. Planets, moons, stars: red giants, white dwarves, black holes spanned across the sky.

"What happened?" she demanded, on edge.

"Death," Starscream's voice hissed over her left shoulder.

"Rebirth." Prime, over her right.

Both simultaneously.

"Stop this!" she screamed, falling to her knees with a heavy clank. "Stop this madness! I don't know who or what you are, or why you're doing this to me, but stop it right now!"

"But, Arty," Starscream appeared once more, this time in front of her, holding out a hand to help her stand. "Don't you understand? We're your consciences. We're you."

Realisation struck her. It only made sense.

The unreal chill fueled little-expressed terror in the black Transformer. She pushed herself to her feet and bolted. After a dozen strides, she transformed into vehicle, hammering it. She fishtailed on the steel surface, compensated quickly, doing anything in her power to get away from the ghosts who haunted her mind.

_(we're not ghosts, artemis,)_ Optimus Prime whispered. _(we're parts of you personified by you in relation to ghosts of your past.)_

"Then why do you haunt me?" she screamed over the roar of her engine.

_(because you need us,)_ her old friend continued. _(lest you become cold, unfeeling.)_

_(a true decepticon,)_ Starscream added, his cruel smile audible.

"LEAVE ME BE!"

Her attention took for granted the straightaway of the realm.

She did not see the upward crop of twisted steel alloy in her path.

Metal crunched against metal as she struck, subconsciously transformed back to humanoid form, falling to her side with a groan.

"Artemis!" a child's voice called out, worried. "Artemis, are you all right? Oh, Primus, we should have never done this...Artemis!"

She recognised the voice, of course. A memory floated to the surface, one aeons past, one of the many competitions between her and Orion Pax.

It was just before her first major upgrade, and they had been racing by the Ridge, a massive scar of metal on Cybertron's surface, creating upshoots of sharp shards towering nearly a thousand feet.

To the younger Autobots who wanted to show off to their friends, it made a great obsticle course.

She had posed the challenge; he accepted. Just a friendly little wager.

There had been an accident, however; she miscalculated a turn and broad-sided one of the larger shards, slicing the right side of her body from fender to fender. It made matters worse when she transformed, ripping even more circuitry from its correct place.

Similar to what happened at that point in the dreamscape.

Was she reliving that memory? Why?

Painfully, she rose her head. Her vision blurred, seeing only a blob of red and blue progressively getting closer. Glancing down, she was only dully surprised to find her arm a deep gloss blue rather than matte black, her old colour before the third War started. Artemis soon found that she could not move otherwise, only observe through the eyes of the much younger Artemis she had once been.

The red and blue blur cleared somewhat; it was Orion Pax, as expected, broad-shouldered, even in childhood.

"Don't try to move, Artemis...it doesn't look good..." he hissed, his optics betraying his worry. "We shouldn't have done this..."

"Stupid, wasn't it?" she heard herself smirk, though the pain she felt was shared by the ghost image of her younger self. "Should of paid more attention to where the bend veered-"

"That's not important now," he stated. "What is important is to get you back to the city." Gently, he picked her up, careful not to disturb the wound. Pain was still present, and she cried out. "I'm sorry, Artemis...I don't want to hurt you any further...just bare with it until we can get back."

Orion Pax stood for a moment, his optics pondering.

"I don't trust transforming," he apologised.

"I trust you, Orion," she whispered.

His optics smiled, though they were still rimmed with worry. The sound of jet engines overhead caused him to momentarily glance upward.

"I wish I could fly," he spoke suddenly. "Then I could get you help faster."

"I'd rather stay on the ground," she remarked. "If Primus wished us to fly, we would have propulsion units..."

"Wings, too..."

The scene suddenly changed. She was still being carried, but this time, her left arm and shoulder were racked with pain. She glanced to to her left; her shoulder was the matte black she adopted after Orion-no, Optimus Prime-left in the Ark. Below that, nothing save some loose circuits.

Just a short time ago, she realised. When Unicron betrayed my thoughts to Galvatron.

But instead of Blitzwing being her savior, delivering her to Cybertron City, Prime held her, gazing to the horizon.

"This is your crossroad, Artemis," Prime stated. "You've been given a second chance, something most do not receive."

"Why me, then?" she demanded softly.

Carefully, Prime set her down on her feet. The pain disappeared.

"I do not know," he shook his head slowly. "You hold an importance to what is yet to come, that is all I know."

"'Importance?'" She had meant to scoff, but did not. "I'm a mercenary, not a great leader like you were."

The spectre turned his head, staring down at her.

"Your choice in what you will do will point you in the direction you need to go."

And then she was alone once more.

Though now, the metal ground had split into three paths: all three seemed to lead on infinitely, one veering to her left, one to her right, and one straight ahead.

"I wish I had more information," she hissed.

Another disembodied voice reached her auditory sensors; again, this one was distinctively familiar.

_"She can't be trusted."_

Rodimus...

It was soon joined by a second.

_"I think she knows that too...I don't even think she can trust herself. She has nowhere else-"_

Kup!

_"-save Reicere."_

"The Rejected planet..." she whispered. Would she end up there...? With Blitzwing and other Cybertronians who did not fit into the Autobot/Decepticon molds? Those who chose not to fight in the Cybertronian Wars, those who chose not to take sides, those who did not belong to either side?

_"Over my disconnected circuitry."_

"What?" Artemis blinked, stunned. What was going on? Where was this conversation she was overhearing taking place? While she was unconscious? Why was Kup defending her?

A new image shimmered in front her. Neither Optimus Prime nor Starscream, this one was a Cybertronian child.

It was her, long ago, before the hardships of life and war had corrupted her innocence.

"He has faith, Artemis," the child whispered. "Somewhere, in the shell that houses the mercenary, there is the child he remembers. That is what he believes."

"I mean I'll take responsibility for her," Kup's voice continued, "unless she decides to go to Reicere, which I seriously doubt. Artemis was not the one to enjoy being rejected."

"He's right," The nightwatch blue child exclaimed, staring up at the matte black adult. "What are you going to chose, Artemis? He is willing to be your friend once more. The others won't trust you, you know that's true..."

"As much as I don't trust myself," black Artemis snarled.

"You don't trust yourself with what? Do you believe you would pick up a rifle and shoot Rodimus Prime in the back?"

"No, of course not!"

"Do you believe you would betray the Autobots to the mercy of the Decepticons?"

"No!"

"How about the Quintessons?"

"No!"

"What about Galvatron? You would be able to keep your cool if you were to face him again? Would you face him alone out of revenge?"

The black Artemis remained silent.

"That is where you do not trust yourself. You still hold the Decepticon need for vengeance...not only for the death of Orion Pax, but for one other." Blue Artemis ventured forward, taking hold of the much larger Transformer's right hand. "If Galvatron hadn't fired on you, would you be here now?"

"Probably better off without this madness," black Artemis snarled, shaking off the child's hand. "All these dreams and ghosts haunting me..."

"They attempt to help," blue Artemis stated. "Somewhere, there's an Artemis who wants to return home."

"To Cybertron?"

"To what she once was," the child corrected, her form fading.

"Why is this happening to me?" Artemis shouted.

Abruptly, existence shattered like glass; the spacescape, the metal paths, everything, leaving the tortured Transformer floating in a white void.

A new voice spoke; this one totally unfamiliar. As it spoke, words appeared in dark red letters in her line of sight.

**CONSUMER MODEL DESIGNATE RTMS-1. FLAWED: MENTAL INSTABLITY DUE TO HIGH IMBALANCE OF EMOTIONS. RESULT: CONFUSION IN MODEL, UNRELIABLE IN WORKFORCE. CONCLUSION: RECYCLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.**

"What is this?" she demanded.

The words disappeared, and new ones emerged.

**ARE YOU CONSUMER DESIGNATE RTMS-1?**

"I am Artemis," she retorted angrily.

**YOU ARE CONSUMER DESIGNATE RTMS-1.**

"I am Artemis!" she repeated more forcibly.

**ARTEMIS IS THE NAME YOU CALL YOURSELF. YOUR OFFICIAL DESIGNATE IS RTMS-1.**

"'Designate?'" She narrowed her optics. "I don't understand!"

**YOU ARE ONE OF THE CONSUMER GOODS FROM THE CYBERTRON MANUFACTURING PLANT. YOU ARE FLAWED, MORE THAN MOST FROM THAT PARTICULAR PLANT. CONCLUSION: YOU SHOULD BE RECYCLED.**

"What are you?"

**THIS IS THE ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING OF ALL CYBERTRONIANS. THE PRODUCTION PLANT, SERIAL DESIGNATE VECTOR-SIGMA, PROGRAMMED BY THE QUINTESSON CREATORS TO INSTALL THE BASIC ATTRIBUTES: DESIGNATION, FUNCTION, AND THE NECESSARY PROGRAMMING TO COMPLETE GIVEN TASKS. YOUR ORIGINAL FUNCTION WAS SEARCH AND RETRIEVAL.**

"I don't believe you."

**YOU WERE NOT PROGRAMMED TO EXPRESS INDIVIDUALISM AT THIS LEVEL.**

"And this concerns you," Artemis growled. "Get this, Quintesson program, I am Artemis, formally of the Autobots and Decepticons. I am my own person. I make my own choices. I recommend you delete yourself from my head or else I'll find a way to do it myself."

The dark red words disappeared.

And then silence.

"This is some kind of sadistic nightmare," she growled, closing her optics tight. "This is some sort of nightmare I can't wake up from."

"Oh, you can wake up any time you want, Artemis," Starscream's voice hissed, causing her to shiver, his arms snaking around her shoulders, holding her tight as though attempting to comfort her; however, she knew better. "Just the real world out there is much, much worse."

Her optics flashed online as she inhaled sharply, after what seemed like an eternity. She stared up at a metal ceiling, featureless save for rivets holding the panels in place to the endostructure of the craft. Something about her body, the very sensations around her, told her that this was no dream; it was real, from the muffled roar of the shuttle engines to numbness in her left arm. She lifted her head slightly.

"Good to have you back to the land of the living."

"If you can call my life 'living,'" she stated coldly to the voice, dropping her head back down.

Kup walked around the table, finally sitting on her left so that she could look at him without straining.

"May I ask you some questions, Artemis?" he asked candidly.

"I have a feeling I already know them," she retorted. "'Why did I do what I did?' I don't know why at first, Kup. Anger, confusion, my sense of belonging nonexistent." She sighed, her gaze never leaving the old warrior's face. "Or perhaps I've truly gone mad with all the fighting." Raising her right arm slightly, she stared at her hand as if that being the first time she truly realised it was there. "Why, Kup? Why am I not restrained? Surely Rodimus must not think I'm trustworthy."

"Would you go back to the Decepticons after what Galvatron did to you?" Kup reached over and touched her left hand. She felt nothing from the contact.

"No," she answered bluntly, her averting her stare.

"That's what I thought."

He then remained silent.

Good, Artemis thought. Gave her time to think.

"Pah, Autobots..." Starscream materialised suddenly. "So sentimental...so gullible."

She dimmed her optics with a groan. Kup had obviously not heard the spectre's comment, for he seemed oblivious to Starscream's presence.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here, eh, Arty? Don't bother talking...I don't think Hot Rod'll buy you being crazy enough to talk to a dead guy."

Damn, he was still there. Maybe if she just ignored him...

"Looks like you were able to cheat death this time...too bad, it's getting mighty lonely in this limbo...but, look on the bright side: you can still see and hear me."

She coughed, defeated.

"Thought you might like to know, I just got back from Charr...you're gonna love what happened to Galvatron's lapdog...and I don't mean that traitor Cyclonus."

Traitor? That was almost humourous, coming from Starscream. As much as she wanted to retort, she remained quiet.

"That chip you stole from the human scientists? Let's just say ol' Unicron got the last laugh not only with you, but with Galvatron as well. Seems that the chip wasn't a key to Unicron's technology; it was a key to a virus. A virus which has infected Soundwave."

Her optics widened. The lone voice of logic among the Decepticons...infected with an alien virus?

What could she do now? She was in Autobot custody...and Galvatron would kill her if she stepped foot on Charr. Soundwave seemed to be the only Decepticon among Galvatron's ranks with a sense of logic and reasoning. Without him or Shockwave, the Decepticons would be even more barbaric and bloodthirsty than ever now.

Thus, more dangerous, less unpredictable...

_(thinking like an autobot, arty,)_ she chided herself. _(and you thought it would be difficult to return...)_

_(it is nothing to chide yourself for,)_ the young voice of blue Artemis exclaimed. _(it is the part of you who wishes to return home.)_

Home. There was that word again. It wasn't meant towards Cybertron. Artemis still did not understand what the child aspect meant.

"Cybertron to Arty, you still with us?" Starscream snapped translucent fingers next to her auditory sensors. "I was hoping for more of a rise from you..."

She narrowed her optics angrily.

"Fine! Don't believe me! I'll just go on my own merry way...I'll keep in touch, Arty." With a wave and a sardonic smile, the ghost faded out of perception.

Closing her optics once more, she groaned softly.

Wonderful.

***  
Autobot City

Blaster was definitely in a weird mood.

Probably due to the long hours of sitting in his communications tower, cranking rock music at 120 decibels. Right now, he had a strange urge to play Primus. It was probably Les Claypool's bass riffs. One thing Blaster loved, and that was heavy bass riffs.

"Hey, mind keeping it down?" Eject shouted from his terminal. "I'm trying to catch Game 2!"

Blaster turned down the internal speakers. "AL Playoffs?"

"Yanks don't stand a chance," Eject's optics grinned sadistically. "Pedro is pitching at Fenway. Too bad Clemens pitched last night; they could have replayed Game Three back in '99...13-1, Pedro with twelve shutouts...Clemens getting pulled out in the third..."

Blaster glanced over at Rewind, who chuckled, then let his little companion ramble on, turning back to his communication station. His interest was music, not baseball. What Eject was talking about was all greek to him. All he knew was, depending on who went to the World Series, football season would be not far off, and double plays and homeruns would be replaced by first downs and field goals.

"Wyonna's Big Brown Beaver" came to a crashing halt, and Blaster cued one of his all-time favourites, "Fuel" by Metallica. So it was one off the "Reload" album. The song still kicked tailgate.

Suddenly the communicator beeped. Flipping off the internal speakers, Blaster punched the comm link.

_"Skylynx to Autobot City."_

"Autobot City, reading ya live and loud!" Blaster exclaimed. "How goes the battle?"

_"Blaster, have Wreak-Gar and his crew get to the medlab,"_ Rodimus ordered, _"First-Aid too. It's a repair job Zodiac informs us that the Junkions are the only ones that can complete."_

"Roger that, Rodimus! What's your ETA?"

_"Half-hour to base. We're just clearing Jupiter."_

"Bottom of the first! Sox are up! Pedro just struck out the Yanks in the top!" Eject yelled.

Blaster heard Rodimus relay this information to Kup, who said something excitedly, intangible through the commlink.

_"Kup wants to thank Eject for the update,"_ Rodimus smirked audibly.

"Roger that!" Blaster repeated. "Autobot City, out!"

_"Skylynx, out."_

Hitting another series of buttons, the communications specialist opened up the intercom.

"Hey, Autobots, Blaster blastin' with word from Rodimus. They're touchin' down in a half-hour, and requested for the Junkions and First-Aid to report to the mechlab. Don't think it's anything serious, but you never can be sure."

"Pedro struck out the Yanks in the top of the first...and Garciaparra's up to bat for the Sox...first pitch...Garciaparra smacks it deep right! It's going...going...BYE BYE BABY! IT'S A HOMER! SOX ARE 1-ZIP IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST, NO OUTS!"

"If Eject doesn't short out by the end of the game, it'll be a miracle," Rewind muttered.

A crowd of Autobots gathered around the landing area as Skylynx touched down and slowed to a stop. The massive Autobot transport allowed his passengers to unboard before transforming into his predatory form of preference.

No one really said anything to anyone. No one was certain if this was a victory or a defeat. Rodimus had the macrochip in his hand, yes, but by the brooding look in his optics, the Decepticons most definitely got away with what they had gone for. Most of the excitement was from Cavalier, staring around in wonder at the sights of earth, occasionally asking an old friend she hadn't seen since the closing years of the Third War what kind of tree that was, or why is the sky so blue. Her sudden naivety seemed so different in contrast to her usually brash cockiness, it surprised many of her peers, though somehow, it brought a little more ease to the situation.

Kup lingered behind the crowd, his arm around Artemis's shoulders for support. Rodimus knew she was no real danger to the Autobots, and Springer and Arcee were tolerant with his decision, but it was Kup who held the responsibility.

"You going to be all right?" he asked her softly.

"I hope so," she whispered. "Kup, I'm not worth all this trouble. Maybe I should go to Reicere afterwards...once broken, trust is nearly impossible to rebuild."

"I used to say that," he smiled somewhat. "So you were listening to me. I always thought your mind was somewhere off in the Crab Nebula-"

"-when you used to lecture me and Orion when we got caught doing something wrong..." she smirked in them memory. The grin faded as suddenly as it appeared. "Then why are you doing this, Kup? Why are you still standing beside me? I betrayed everyone I had ever cared for."

"Maybe because I see a little of that kid who used to cause so much trouble for me. And what I see of her, she wants to return home."

She stumbled a bit, optics widening in realisation.

It was what the Artemis from so long ago had said in that messed up dream...

_(i want to return home...)_

She allowed Kup to lead her inside the city, pausing only to stare up at the statue at the gateway. At least a hundred feet tall, it stood as a commemorative to the Battle of Autobot City a few short months ago. The statue was in Optimus Prime's likeness, tribute to a great leader who had died fighting against those who would destroy the cause he believed in so much.

_"Your choice in what you will do will point you in the direction you need to go."_

That's what the spectre of her childhood friend had said to her in the dream. She remembered it clearly, as if he was speaking it right then.

"You would have been proud of him," Kup whispered behind her. "He still fought even after he knew he was not going to survive."

"Always had to be the noble one," she smirked sadly, touching the base of the statue with one hand. She then realised her choice.

One path, to betrayal.

Another path, to loyalty.

Still another, to nothingness.

She stared back at the statue, who seemed to be, rather than looking out to the mountains as a sentinel would, gazed into the city, as if watching over his people.

She closed her optics once more, turning away from the statue's image reluctantly.

"I choose this path, Kup," she stated the old warrior on her left, and together, they ventured forth into the city.

*

In the Oregon twilight, no one would notice him.

Leaves stirred, though there was an absence of wind, though this being autumn, no one found this unusual.

Lights flickered as he passed through the Autobot sensors, undetected.

An enemy?

Yes and no.

With a sadistic grin, Starscream's ghost entered the city, following the wounded mercenary.

At least she could hear and see him. Through her, he would extract his revenge against Galvatron.

*

If one would walk by the main medlab at that precise moment, that slightly confused soul would have sworn various televisions were playing different emergency dramas: a smidgeon of Chicago Hope, a dab of ER, a little bit of Third Watch, and a bit of Providence thrown in for good measure. Occasionally, something from Star Trek would pop up, followed by a soft-spoken "Could any of you please take this seriously?"

The Junkions glanced at each other, then back at First-Aid, collectively shook their heads, snarled "Nawww..." and resumed their pointless technobabble.

The soft-spoken Protectobot only shook his head, defeated.

"Why do I even bother?" he muttered as Kup entered the medlab, aiding a strange female-designate on his right. She raised her head once, groaned, and dropped her gaze.

"I was hoping," she growled, "that medic was joking about the Junkions..."

The Junkion second in command, a female designate with a mismatched left arm called Scat, closed her optics and smiled brightly.

"Now, now, my good Nihao Kitty, we'll fix you up good as sparkly fresh sunny day, ne?" she bubbled.

Artemis only stared at her, mouth agape, letting out a short laugh.

"And you actually trust these guys to operate on you with power tools?" she demanded to Kup.

"As strange as they may be, ma'am, they're actually accomplished medics," First-Aid stated.

"Ha...someone normal...there is a Primus."

"Next patient, come on down and spin the Wheel of Fortune yesserie Monty!" Wreck-Gar clapped his hands together, picking up a welding torch.

"Kup, you're staying here, right?" Artemis pleaded, almost comically.

"Don't blame you, lass," Kup chuckled, helping her up on the diagnostic bed. "As long as First-Aid's here, I don't think they'll be any problem whatsoever."

"If you say so, old man," she smirked, her optics betraying her nervousness.

"Kup, a word outside, please?" First-Aid then questioned as Frag and Rustedge started chirping "Chancey! Chancey!" Kup nodded, somewhat reluctant to leave Artemis in the hands of Pokémon-quoting Junkions and somewhat relieved to get away from said Junkions for the moment.

"Not that this should matter or anything," First-Aid pointed out, "Rodimus had already warned us about Artemis...I'm just a little nervous about repairing a Decepticon..."

"I know your concern," Kup nodded, "but trust me, lad...I really do believe she wants to come back to our side. I've known her since she was younger than Wheelie. Already I'm seeing bits and pieces of the Autobot she once was."

First-Aid nodded. "How long has she been unable to move her arm?"

"About twelve megacycles. Zodiac tried to fix what he could, but something about her neural circuitry had him stumped, or at least what I could make out of what he was talking about."

"Zodiac had already informed me on the situation via satellite uplink as well. Twelve megacycles may call it close, but not impossible. We'll still be able to reconnect the nerves at best."

"At worst?"

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that extremity."

the Protectobot suddenly cocked his head to one side, listening to the conversation in the other room. Scat, no longer talking sweet and bubbly anime talk but a more professional voice, was speaking, with Artemis rifling back sharp retorts.

"Patient reports fatigue-"

"I am not!"

"-chest pain-"

"Zodiac fixed that, thank you very much..."

"-and slight loss of appitite-"

"Well, you got that one right, Junkion..."

"We've gotta live one here..." Wreak-Gar then stated.

"KUP!" Artemis shouted suddenly.

Kup and First-Aid reentered the medlab, only to find Frag and Rustedge holding Artemis down, Frag at the shoulders, his thinner brother at her feet, as she struggled to escape their clutches.

"I'll fix it myself! Let go of me! Primusdammit, let me go!"

"Paging Dr. Benton..." Scat beckoned flatly.

"You two, let her go," First-Aid ordered. "Let's review the procedure so that Artemis will know what we are going to do."

Rustedge shrugged, looked over at Frag, who also shrugged. The two released Artemis, and walked around the table, standing at attention beside Scat.

"Thank you," the matte black Cybertronian growled, sitting up, her left arm uselessly at her side.

"It's a little more simple than the human equivalent, really," First-Aid began. "We begin with microsurgery that will replace some of the ripped and destroyed nerves with fiberoptic cables about as thick as a human hair. It will also require reattaching some tendons and ligaments to your endoskeleton that were pulled loose. Zodiac had already informed me that he had set the shoulder joint, which helps a bit. Once we get the nerves reconnected, we will preform a series of tests that may seem a little uncomfortable for a bit..."

"It can't be worse than listening to these guys," she nodded towards the four Junkions.

"Um...that would truly depend on your point of view," the Protectobot replied with a slight chuckle. "For the next couple of weeks, once we are assured the reattachment is a success, which I am positive it will be, you'll be on a restricted activity: no transforming for two weeks at the most, and check-ups every week. After that, we'll see how you do transforming, slowly, for two weeks to a month. Afterwards, it should be healed enough to allow you normal function."

"Better than dying," she retorted bluntly.

"Very well then. If you could lay back down on the diagnostic bed, we'll start by turning off your pain receptors in your shoulder. You still are able to feel in your shoulder, correct?"

"Yeah." Artemis, using her right arm, lowered herself back onto the steel platform, glaring at the two Junkions who held her down earlier.

"Good...it's just a precaution, so that the live nerves won't send pain." First-Aid expertly opened a panel at her joint between shoulder and neck and depressed a button. Her head loped to the right. She was unable to watch what the five were doing next, though Kup remained in her line of sight.

"Hey, what...?"

"Just relax," First-Aid whispered. There was another series of clicking, and then footfalls away from the table, then heavier ones approaching.

"Good afternoon-day to you, little lady," Wreak-Gar greeted, almost pleasantly. "We'll fix you up right as rain good as new ninty-day warrantee satisfaction guaranteed-"

"-Or your money back!" the three other Junkions chimed.

She only gave Kup a pleading look.

"Relax there, kemosabe, just think happy thoughts and don't worry be happy, there's no place like home."

The mention of that intangible "home" suddenly drew her back into her brooding. It was because of Kup, she rationalised. If not for his faith in her returning to what the Junkions would call "the light side of the Force", she wouldn't be repaired; kept alive, yes, but not repaired, although First-Aid's compassion for all life was well-known, even if it was something as so simple as a faulty tail light.

"'The phlanges are connected to the medicarpals,'" Frag started singing, out of her line of sight, "'the medicarpals are connected to the carpals, carpals are connected to the radius, the radius's on top of the ulna, the both of them are connected to the humerus, and that's the damn thing fell off...'"

"Okay, enough..." the Protectobot ordered.

One thing she knew, the Junkions weren't known for their bedside manner. However, they worked best in teams, even more than most other Autobots. They were able to put Ultra Magnus back together in a matter of seconds when the transport was destroyed by Sweeps on Junk. Just four of them would be able to repair her if Galvatron had aimed a little more fatalistic.

"Multiple GSW, pulse 48, BP 90 over palp, 6 resps, hematocrit 4!" Scat called out, pulling Artemis brutally from her thoughts. The Junkion second's statement both startled her and Kup.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Artemis rifled back, trying to move her head and failing.

"Pericardial tamponade!" Wreak-Gar shouted. "We'll need to siphon the fluid!"

"Guys..." First-Aid warned.

"We're loosing her!" Scat cried. Artemis's optics widened.

"She's fine..." First-Aid corrected, almost angrily.

"She's going into defib!" Wreck-Gar called out.

"Um...her pump rate's just fine..."

"I know that!" The Junkion leader threw his hands out with a _woosh_. "Clear the operating room!"

"Why couldn't I be in the presence of normal medics?" the Protectobot whispered.

"Patch up the occipital condyle!" Frag then ordered.

"But that's in her head..." Rustedge corrected.

"I meant the foramen magnum..."

"But that's in the head too..."

Frag let out an exaggerated sigh.

"If you think you're so Primusdamned good at this, I'd like to see you try!"

"I would, but you've been hogging the forceps all night..."

Now Kup was laughing.

"Hey, old man, what's so funny?" Artemis demanded with a growl.

"Take it in stride, kid...they're not serious!" the old warrior slapped his knee.

"Easy for you to say...they're not inside your arm..."

"'Easy for me to say...?' At least you didn't have some tranny-grinding young punk put you back together and leave a piece out of your shoulder...I'm still spitting oil when I transform!"

"Oh, and having having some some Newf-spouting kid poking around your chest while exchanging insults with some of his buddies isn't!"

"You wanna exchange blown apart stories now, lass?"

"I know, I know...'I was a lot like her before I was blown up a few times...' Hey, old man, how many other Autobots did you say that about since me?"

"Too many, you disrespectful engine-flooding little-"

"GGF-one!" Scat interrupted.

"Give me 5 cc's ASA in 10% saline!" Wreck-Gar ordered.

First-Aid blinked. "That would rust her elbow joint, you two..."

"I know that!" Wreck-Gar snapped. "I'm a doctor, not an inorganic chemist!"

"You win," Kup smirked to the matte black female designate.

"Not much of a victory," she moaned. "How much longer do I have to deal with this torture?"

"Not much more than a one thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled," Wreck-Gar retorted. "By the pricking of my positronic memory Spot I think we have a winner Bob! Test out new Junkion-repaired rollover, good as new!"

"How long have I been on this table?" she demanded.

"About fifteen minutes," Kup answered truthfully.

"Way too long..." she grumbled as she heard another series of clicks, then someone-probably First-Aid or Scat by the light footfalls-walked around to ger head and clicked back on the nerve receptors. Feeling suddenly flooded back into her left side, including her arm, which felt extremely odd.

"Are you feeling anything in that arm?" First-Aid questioned.

"Numbness, I think."

"Normal...can you move that arm?"

She brought it up about five inches from the table, first from the shoulder, then from the elbow, then dropped it.

"Good. Now, try making a fist."

Her fingers pulled inward, claw-like, then fell open again.

"By George John Paul Ringo I think she's gonna pull through to the other side," Scat exclaimed.

"You'll probably be on the short road to full recovery," the Protectobot remarked. "It was a good thing Wreck-Gar and his crew recognised the odd circuitry-"

"No, we didn't," Frag muttered.

Artemis sat up, testing the full movement of her arm. Though seeming small, spasmatic quirks, she was grateful she was still alive, let alone still have the ability to transform, if not right away. If she did stick around-

\- no. She will stay. She will build back the trust she had so long ago.

There was no way in hell she was going back to what she was. There was no way she would allow anger, confusion, and vengeance to run her life. Her days as a mercenary were pretty much over.

"Overall, I am impressed," she stated, a little reluctant. "Out of curiosity, how hard would it be to get one's brakes upgraded?"

Suddenly, Rewind ran in, carrying his twin.

"We have a short-out!" Rewind exclaimed.

"Not again," First-Aid groaned.

Kup's eyes widened.

"Who won?" he demanded.

"It's only the fifth inning!" Rewind stated. "Sox are ahead, 10-zip. Pedro just had his fourteenth strike-out."

Artemis blinked. "And he shorted because of that?"

"Eject takes his baseball very seriously," Kup retorted. "Being a fellow Red Sox fan, I can relate."

"Old man, you are just unbelievable," she shook her head, hoping down from the diagnostic table and, one armed, picked up Eject from his brother. She set the much smaller Autobot on the table, noting the rather pleased look in his optics. "Definitely a pointless way of shorting out."

"At least he's got a hobby," Kup shrugged. "C'mon, lass...let's get to the War Room."

'War Room?'"

"Long story."

*

_Following, slowly...no one notices the lights flicker somewhat...passing the TV room...those children, one fleshling and one annoying Autobot watching some cartoon...the reception crackles, and the fleshling mentions how that shouldn't happen, but the screen clears up, and the distortion is forgotten._

_That's it, Arty...lead me...I'll take whatever I can get...just because you think you're above vengeance-and I know you're not-doesn't mean I have to give up mine. Unlike you, I was built Decepticon...I'll have my revenge against Galvatron, and through you, the Autobots will be my accomplices..._

_And I'll have you to thank, Arty. Without you, I would still be floating in the void of limbo aimlessly._

*

All the Autobots weren't in the War Room this time. Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Springer, Arcee, and Spike were the only ones in there when Artemis and Kup entered. Each had a different expression. Arcce and Springer seemed more apologetic, where as Ultra Magnus looked mostly stoic with an edge of contempt. On the conference table was the macrochip.

"How're you feeling?" Rodimus questioned.

"Better," Artemis responded.

"As you probably know, Galvatron got away with whatever was downloaded from this chip," The leader stated, more to the group than one singular person. "Our concern now is to find out what's on this chip so we can figure out what exactly the information Galvatron has in possession of."

"A virus," Artemis stated flatly, remembering Starscream's words back on Skylynx.

"And how would you know that?" Ultra Magnus demanded.

_Think quick..._ "When Galvatron had Soundwave upload Unicron's databases via the chip, it...reacted...Soundwave suddenly acted peculiar: couldn't walk straight, talking in stutters and out of context, things totally impossible with Soundwave." _They don't have to trust me...just believe me,_ she thought.

"How do we know you're not lying to cover Galvatron's trail?" the transport demanded.

She narrowed her eyes. "You don't have to trust me; all I'm say is, if you have a non-networked computer, you use that to find out what exactly is on that chip. Which would be better, finding out there's nothing on the chip or having Metroplex infected with a currently unknown virus?"

"Magnus, she has a point," Springer stated.

"And it's a better idea to be safe than sorry," Spike agreed. "I've still got my old college laptop. Let's see if good ol' Dr. Norton and Windows NT can detect anything."

As Spike ran out of the room, Artemis leaned over to Kup and hissed in his auditory sensor.

"I see Magnus still hasn't got that rod stuck up his tailpipe out yet..."

Kup only smirked. Artemis remembered the blue and white Autobot very well. He was around the same age as her, once an old friend whom had grown far apart. Orion got along with him the best when he was then just called Magnum, quite well when they were children; she was, however, an eternal thorn in his side, usually because he was at the blunt of her practical jokes.

He must still hold that grudge.

I wonder if he realised who I was, she thought, back there at the Starport. Not just some mercenary who just happened to be named Artemis, but the cause of all his humiliation aeons ago.

Probably not, she concluded with a slight inward smirk.

"Looks like Ultra Magnus is gonna be a pain in your side, Arty," Starscream whispered on her left. "Or perhaps vice versa..."

She casually glanced around as if studying the room, and, once seeing Starscream's outline, shot him a narrowed glare of death.

"Okay, I'm leaving!" the spectre held up his hands defensively. "I'll be in the that room with the fleshling kid and the annoying little piece of scrap, playing with the reception..."

She wanted to retort to that statement so much. The almighty Starscream, once scourge of the galaxy and commander of the Decepticon arial fleet, in death, had been reduced to fooling with the reception of a television for kicks.

Wait a minute...her expression clouded over. What the hell was he doing here in Autobot City?

_He's following me,_ she rationalised. But why? _Because I'm the only one who can see and hear him?_

_(perhaps he fears to not exist,)_ Blue Artemis's voice whispered from within. _(he fears oblivion that nonrememberance brings.)_

_(there's more to it,)_ Artemis argued. _(starscream's shallow, but not simple-minded.)_

_(of course there's more...why not ask him, later?)_

Artemis shook her head. Why just her? Why could she notice the dead Seeker and no one else?

_(you were so close to death, so close to the limbo.)_

Perhaps...

Her thoughts, once again, were interrupted as Spike carried a worn leather case by a strap on his shoulder. Without so much as a word, the human opened the case, pulled out a blocky old laptop, some five or six years old, and pulled out a battery pack and some tools wrapped in non-static fabric. Deftly, he pried the back off the laptop, turned it upside down, and then popped open the bottom. Picking up the macrochip, he pulled out a converter he had created for compatibility between Earth and Cybertronian hardware, made a few quick changes with a pair of pliers, and inserted the chip into the read side of the converter. A couple of seconds later, he connected the other side into a SCSI port. Replacing the covers, he flipped the computer back right-side-up, and, attaching the battery pack, he hit the power button.

"Here goes nothing," Spike breathed as everyone gathered around him to watch the tiny LCD screen boot up to the Windows NT server. So far, so good. It asked for a username and password, which the human typed in quickly.

"Okay, 'unrecognizable hardware detected,' I know..." Spike clicked a couple of times on the mouse. "Let's see what happens if I tell it the chip's an external hard-drive..."

Artemis watched from behind Ultra Magnus's shoulder. He had stood from his seat...

And suddenly, she was struck by a truly evil idea.

Blue Artemis was silent.

Ever her conscious agreed to do it.

A quick glance down, she noted how the chair was built. Rather than solid, it had support beams crossing on the sides.

Casually, she stepped her foot on one of the beams and leaned against the chair's back. Pressing a little more weight on it, she heard a slight snap. She took her foot off the support and returned her attention to the laptop monitor.

Somehow, the Windows platform, once knowing it was an external hard-drive, recognised it as a Microsoft/Intel 15 gigabyte external, labeling it the F-drive. Spike laughed at this revolution, and double-clicked on the My Computer icon, the the F:\ icon.

Suddenly, the screen went black. Green letters suddenly formed.

**CLEVER. GALVATRON WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGH OF SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.**

"Oh, shit..." Spike whispered.

"Unicron?" Rodimus demanded.

**CORRECT, BEARER OF THE MATRIX. YOU THOUGHT I WAS DESTROYED. IN REALITY, YOU SUCCEEDED IN DESTROYING MY PHYSICAL BODY. MY PRESENCE CANNOT DIE. IF YOU DESTROY MY HEAD, YOU DO NOT DESTROY ME. I AM THE DESTROYER. I CANNOT DIE. BALANCE DEMANDS IT.**

"This is beginning to sound more like a Moorcock novel," Spike grumbled.

**YOU MIGHT AS WELL KNOW, AUTOBOTS, THAT THE VIRUS INFECTING THIS PRIMITIVE COMPUTER IS IN FACT THE SAME AS THE VIRUS INFECTING THE DECEPTICON DESIGNATED AS "SOUNDWAVE." I POSE A CHALLENGE TO YOU, CHILDREN OF PRIMUS. IF YOU CAN DEFEAT THE VIRUS, I WILL INFORM YOU OF THE QUINTESSONS WHEREABOUTS, FOR THE DECEPTICONS ARE NOT THE TRUE THREAT IN THIS MATTER.**

"The Quintessons?" Ultra Magnus snarled. "We defeated them. They blew up their own planet, and they wouldn't dare attack Cybertron."

**CYBERTRON? PRIMUS WOULDN'T ALLOW IT. CHUCKLE. YOU ARE NAIVE OF THE SITUATION FALLING UPON YOUR SHOULDERS, CHILDREN OF PRIMUS. EVEN NOW, I TELL YOUR RIVALS OF MY CHALLENGE, THE DECEPTICONS THROUGH THE DESIGNATE SOUNDWAVE-**

***  
Charr

`"-And through a primitive Earth computer the Autobots had set up to crack the macrochip."` Soundwave's prone body laid on the makeshift operating table, still save for the movement of his face plate; his optics, glowing eerie green rather than the normal red, casted shadows across his face.

Galvatron growled, striking his fist into a metal table, sending a tray of Mindsurge's tools flying.

"Damn you, Unicron!" the Decepticon leader snarled. "If you do not tell us how to defeat this virus, I shall make it my mission to destroy you!"

`"You could not destroy me, Galvatron. As I told the Autobots, to destroy me, if you could, would bring forth an anti-Balance. You could destroy your spy master, however, but that would not stop the virus from spreading. I shall now leave you with the said challenge. Though you care nothing for the Quintessons, Decepticons, you should worry of their future scheme."`

Soundwave's optics then turned back to red, then dulled, signifying his sleep mode had been activated.

"Great," Frenzy growled. "What are we going to do now?"

"Mindsurge, continue your research!" Galvatron ordered. "For added measure, send Laserbeak to Earth to spy on the Autobot's progress-"

"Um, problem," Rumble pointed out. As Galvatron raised his hand to strike the smaller Decepticon, Rumble continued quickly. "Laserbeak's at the same stage as Soundwave. Unicron is working through them now."

Hand still raised in a backslap manner, the leader contemplated Rumble's comment.

"This proves to be a difficult challenge, Unicron," he growled to himself, dropping his arm. "Not so difficult for the Decepticons, however. We will need to monitor both sides of the Autobots bases. Since the two of you are the only ones of my spies who still function properly, Rumble, Frenzy, one shall go to Cybertron, the other, to Earth. Observe all you can, then report back as soon as you find out anything for a lead on defeating Unicron's virus."

"We're on it!" Frenzy retorted.

"Anything to help the boss!" Rumble agreed.

"Cyclonus, Scourge, take the Sweeps and the Armada, and scower the known galaxy for any word of the Quintessons. We will not allow the Autobots to get the best of us! We will defeat and ultimately destroy Unicron, the Autobots, and the Quintessons. The galaxy will be ours!"

***  
Autobot City

"That could have been Metroplex," Kup whispered.

"I know," Rodimus whispered with a nod. "But what do we do now with the laptop?"

"Destroy it," Ultra Magnus suggested.

"Will it destroy the virus?" Springer questioned.

"And will it help us understand how it works?" Rodimus asked rhetorically. "We should have Perceptor and Spike look at it further. Spike, is there any way you could work on finding what happened to your computer and the chip without using Metroplex's computer systems?"

"Possibly. It'll be a tough nut to crack, I can assure you."

"If you need any more help, let me know. This is our priority one goal."

"But what about the Quintessons?" Artemis then asked.

"They must be up to something for Unicron to give us a warning," Arcee added.

"It wasn't a warning," Ultra Magnus then stated. "It was a taunt."

"Anyone know where the Quintessons are at this point?" Springer demanded.

""Right," Artemis sat in a nearby chair, "they're probably outside the galaxy by now. If not, they're lying low."

"And, if Unicron isn't lying to us, then the Quintessons still pose a more dangerous threat to us than the Decepticons," Ultra Magnus added.

"The Quintessons are always a threat to us," Rodimus remarked. "We may have the numbers, and the humans even more, but they have the advanced technology."

"If you want my opinion, and I know you don't," Artemis smirked, "I think it's best if you guys start searching by means other than radio and digital communications. Spread some word around in person, ask about around every merc bar in the galaxy, you'd probably find some interesting rumor."

"And that's all they are. Rumors." Ultra Magnus glared down at the smaller Cybertronian. "Maybe you should stay out of this until we're sure you're really on our side."

Artemis returned his icy glare. "Maybe you should think before you say anything rash, Magnus. I never hold any loyalty to Galvatron."

"Mercenaries hold no loyalty to anyone."

"If you say so," she shrugged angrily.

Ultra Magnus dropped back down into his seat.

And didn't stop.

Another series of snaps, and, arm outstretched, catching the lip of the table, he fell, landing sharply on the metal floor. Jumping back to his feet, the large Autobot stared at the mass of broken metal that was once his chair.

There were a couple of indistinct snickers, none that came from Artemis.

Her child-like conscious, however, was laughing hysterically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Black groaned. "Musta mellowed out in my old age," she grumbled. "I didn't find that funny anymore. In fact, I kinda feel guilty."  
>  "Matured, perhaps. Though to be honest I think you lost your taste for pranks soon after --"  
> "Ofsted XVII," Black nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't the prank itself but..." She sighed, sitting upright.  
> "Ah." The bartender patted her hand. "I think I know why you're combing through these files now."  
> "Nothing to do with him." Vehemently, she shook her head, readjusting. "Metroplex and Trypticon. That's my goal. Titans' consciousness go beyond normal time-space. I may not know the math, but I know the principle. And if I can just get that fragment -- " She sighed, crossing her arms on the bar surface and bowed her head. "I thought this was supposed to get easier! Vector said --"  
> "Vector", the large mech mirrored her posture, coaxing her to meet his gaze, "only sees the paths and outcomes of the iterations. I, on the other hand, recognise what you could use."  
> "Another drink?"  
> The bartender stood back, taking a bottle of Primus' Chosen from the shelf. "A certain smile."_  
> *  
> I definitely think Enfilade's husband helped me write the Junkion scene. That was far too clever for 20-year-old me on my own.


	5. The Realisation

***  
Autobot City

"So, how's your first impression of Earth?"

The white and black female designate glanced momentarily at Bumblebee, then back out towards the west, towards the fading twilight.

"I've seen vids of Earth before," she smirked audibly, "but they don't do it justice."

"Yeah, that's what a lot of people say," the yellow Autobot shrugged. "Guess I've gotten used to it after being here for twenty years."

"Exploring this place should prove most fun," she retorted.

"I'm just glad we got Cybertron back," Bumblebee remarked. "I miss home sometimes. Earth's great, but sometimes there's no place like home."

"I guess I'm just too much of a wanderlust," Cavalier shrugged. "Heh...the Ridge is probably the only thing I miss so far."

"Wait a couple of days." It was Bumblebee's turn to smirk. "I don't know why you kids decided it was the 'in' thing to get your vehicle modes modified to Earth-based."

"'Kids?'" Cavalier scoffed as they headed back into the city. "I'm not that much younger than you, Beebee. Couldn't help it if you guys had started a fad back home."

"I thought you weren't the type to fall into fads."

"Well, no, but, hey..." she shrugged, her optics smiling. "I admire those dudes at General Motors...naming a hot car after yours truly."

"When did a Bumblebee come out?"

The white and black Autobot shook her head with a chuckle.

"The name was too cute. And that wasn't GM; that was Volkswagen. They changed it to Beetle."

"'Cute?'"

"Well, you gotta admit, your name doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of bad guys..."

"'Cute?'"

"Well, yeah...it's a cute name...right up there with Wheelie and Pikachu."

"'CUTE?'"

"Okay, Beebee, don't blow a gasket, I was only joking."

"Doesn't 'Cavalier' mean rushing head-on into a wall in some alien language?"

"Yeah, English."

"And you openly admit this."

"Better than having a name that makes you think cute and fuzzy Earth bugs."

"Did anyone tell you about that cute and fuzzy bug's sting?"

"What, annoying and irritating?"

"Like you? Yeah."

"Kinda like Pokémon."

"No, Wheelie is a Pokémon. You're up there with Jessie Rocket."

"You mean you watch that show?"

"Er..." Bumblebee glanced up at the ceiling. "No..."

"You're a closet Pokémon fan!"

"No, I'm not! Why don't you go bother Blaster or something? And, whatever you do, don't tell Eject you're a Red Sox fan...he's rooting for the Yanks, you know."

"Heh...that's not a bad idea..." Her eyes smiled almost sweetly. "That's one thing I don't get about Earth culture...sports...well, I get NASCAR and drag-racing, but not the other stuff..."

"Well, go talk to Eject. He knows everything there is to know about Earth sports."

"Heh, catch ya later!" Cavalier winked at her friend, rushing towards the communication tower.

Bumblebee couldn't help but snicker. Cavalier was going to run into a lot of trouble with her own practical jokes, not just everyone else's geared towards her.

Oh well. Live and learn.

He passed the body shop and decided suddenly to check to see what Jazz and Tracks were up to. "Body Shop" was a loose term for the area devoted to anyone who wanted a touch-up to their paint job after a battle or were bored with their old paint.

Bumblebee rolled his optics in memory at what happened last Halloween. "Touch-up" paint turned into Halloween costume...those two had repainted him white with red and blue trim and a decal "53" on his hood and doors. Three days of being called "Herbie" was more than enough, and, on the stroke of midnight the day after Halloween, he demanded to Jazz and Tracks to paint him back his original colour. They did, though he did end up with a little blue peace sign on his backside no one really noticed. That wasn't too bad.

Kid Rock's "Cowboy" blared from a CD player in the corner as Bumblebee entered the garage-like structure littered with automotive paint and bondo supplies for quick repairs.

A rather irate Tracks was applying a coat of primer on his left arm, muttering intangible curses at Jazz, who was picking up around the shop.

"Hey, what happened here?" Bumblebee demanded.

"Ask him," Tracks growled, nodding his head towards the black and white Autobot. "I'm not talking to him." The blue Cybertronian slammed the primer can onto the table and started waving his arm around. "Oh, I hope this doesn't streak..."

"Chill out, man! I said I was sorry!" Jazz protested. Turning his attention to the smaller Autobot, he smirked. "I ran into a shelf and knocked all this slag off...Tracks was in the way and, well, dinged up his arm some good. He's freakin' out because-"

"It takes four to six hours for the primer to dry!" Tracks wailed. "And I've gotta wait another twelve hours before applying the first coat of blue! That's it. I'm not going out in public until it's done...and knowing my luck, the paint's not gonna match."

Tracks continued on his rant, unaware that Bumblebee and Jazz were no longer paying attention to him. Frustrated, he stormed towards the other two Autobots, still waving his arm.

"Hey! I'm having a crisis here!" He snapped.

"Then don't let me interrupt you."

Tracks soon was sharing his wide-eyed companions' expression as he turned his head toward the matte-black female designate.

"Ar-Artemis?" Jazz stampered.

"Yeah, it's me, you two...can't say I remember the flapper, though," she walked into the shop coolly, glancing around. "Kup says you kids do a bit of auto body. I need something off my chest, if you know what I mean."

The three just stared at the ex-mercenary, jaws slack. Tracks dropped his arm to his side.

Artemis grumbled, storming over to the table and snatching up a paint grinder.

"Fine, if you're just gonna gawk at me, I'll do it myself-"

Jazz shook his head, taking the grinder from her.

"Hey, sorry 'bout that, Art; we're kinda surprised to see you," he stated. "What happened? We were told you disappeared soon after the Ark crashed."

"It's a long story, Jazz," she released the power tool and leaned up against the workbench. "To make it short, I cracked, I lost my sight, became blind. I didn't know what to do when you guys were reported missing, probably off-lined. I just snapped." She sighed heavily. "When I heard you all were alive and well..." a right-shouldered shrug, the left still sagged a bit "...I don't know. Something still clouded my vision. It took Kup to wake me up, when he recognised me a couple of nights ago."

The four were suddenly quiet, an uneasy air settling in the garage.

Finally, Tracks spoke up.

"Well, I can tell you one thing," he snapped. "Matte black is definitely out. It practically screams insecurity."

Artemis blinked once and demanded, "What the hell are you babbling about?"

"Listen, girlfriend, you want to walk in here demanding to fix that purple blemish where it's supposed to be red, I'm gonna give you a consultation."

"First the Junkions, now the Autobot fashion critic. What next?" Artemis grumbled.

Tracks ignored her rhetoric question and gave her a once-over at five paces.

"That's a nasty blister on your shoulder; gotta go, the war-torn look is so, I don't know, Second Cybertron War-era? Anyway, purple? Very out. Jazz, my mood music."

"Over my off-lined circuitry are you gonna listen to TLC in my presence!" Jazz picked up a CD case, flipped it open, and shook out a compact disc, fitting neatly in the cup of his hand. "If I'm gonna be here, we listen to my stuff. Anyway, Art's not the type to like TLC."

"Dare I ask?" Artemis rolled her eyes. "You guys are taking this all pretty well. Magnus seems to be the only one with a real problem with me being here."

"Hey, everyone's had off days," Bumblebee stated with a shrug as Jazz's Offspring disc thundered into "Nitro". "Just you had a few more than the average person."

A short laugh. "That would be an understatement, Bumblebee," Artemis remarked.

"Anyway, Art, you know as well as I Ultra Magnus has a problem with everyone," Jazz smirked. "I'm too laid back, Perceptor rambles, let's not start in about Rodimus, Eject and Kup take sports way too seriously, Tracks is conceited-"

"Am not!" Tracks protested. "I may be the best-looking 'Bot here, yes, but I'm not conceited!"

Jazz snorted. "I rest my case."

Artemis shook her head, taking hold of her left elbow with her right hand.

"I don't know, boys," she remarked. "I'm not worried about Magnus that much. It's the general Autobot population. Those who don't know me heard stories."

"And those who do know you wouldn't believe them," Bumblebee pointed out. "Word gets around about a certain Autobot spy who helped keep a resistance going while we were gone; and let's not forget the stories of the mercenary who would never take a job involving innocents to be harmed."

"How do you know that?" she demanded.

"I didn't spend three years on Moonbase 2 totally isolated," the little yellow Autobot retorted. "One hears stories, after all. Especially around a certain bar in Sirian space."

"Okay, now I know you're not bluffing," Artemis stated. "The Four Winds Bar isn't exactly the classiest place to hang out, Bumblebee. What were you doing there?"

"Rumoured to have the best energon lager in the system? I'm there. Of course, Spike and I logged it as routine patrol."

Artemis chortled with a shake of her head. "No longer the cute and innocent one, now, are you?"

"I'm still cute."

"Point is, Art," Jazz interjected, "that there are still those who believe you. Kup, for example. Rodimus must think you're still an Autobot. Sometimes the worst happens to the best of people."

"Like Skyfire," Bumblebee and Tracks groaned together.

"That wasn't exactly encouraging, dudes," Jazz warned.

"Skyfire?" Artemis questioned, her optics widening.

"Sorry." Bumblebee shrugged sheepishly as Tracks returned to an intact shelf of paint. "Yeah...he's still around here somewhere. Tends to keep to himself, though."

"Okay, close model colour is Pontiac Motor Department Starlight Black." The blue Autobot walked back to the group with two cans in his hands. "Also have other really good dark colours, like...oooohhh...this one's a good one to overcoat black. Nightwatch blue. Both colours very popular on late 1960's Pontiacs."

"Let's stick with the black, okay?" Artemis retorted. "Keep it simple."

"You sure? The blue would be much more becoming on you."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Fashion's the least on my mind."

"Blue would bring out the colour in your optics-"

"And how have you managed to stay alive for so long?"

"Don't mess with her, Tracks," Jazz warned. "She may be foxy, but she's a dangerous lady..."

"Quiet, you..." Artemis ordered.

"Thanks for the warning," Tracks laughed shortly. "I would have never of guessed." Turning to the female designate, he tossed the can of blue over his shoulder. "Starlight Black it is."

***

Charr

Soundwave lay in a cavern far from the main chamber of the subterranean base, optics a dull red and staring at the uneven ceiling. Though no one would ever guess it by his silent, unmoving form that he was, in fact, in horrific pain. The virus Unicron had infected him with was slowly reformatting his neural system.

Logically, he thought, Galvatron should have destroyed him. But his worth to the Decepticon leader was too much to risk it.

The fool, he found himself snarl mentally. Unicron had the advantage now. Infecting Galvatron's most trusted subordinate, the Decepticon leader had no choice but to search for a cure to the virus.

Soundwave's logic network flared, bringing him back into a shadow of his former mind. Galvatron should destroy him. It was the only way to stop the virus. It was too complex for Cybertronian technology to figure out, maybe even too much for the Quintessons.

But Mindsurge had brought up using the virus against the Autobots.

"Madness!" his circuits cried. The virus was volatile; he could see that within him, understanding how it was downloaded, transferred, mutated, evolved. If he had control of his voice, he would plead with his lord to end his suffering, for the benefit of the Decepticons.

His options were severely limited, and as much as he wanted to function, he knew it was inevitable.

The virus was slowly destroying his central processor and neural systems.

With an aggravated cry, a disturbing electronic sound which resonated with angst and pain, Soundwave sank back into unconsciousness.

The other Decepticon in the cavern was alerted by the cry, and, with a bounce in his step, strode to Soundwave's bedside.

"It must really hurt for you to cry out like that," Mindsurge sneered. "Of course, having your mind reformatted while still online would be rather painful, wouldn't it?" The thin robot then stepped over to his workbench and picked up a portable computer. "Erasing your hard-drive and starting from scratch will do no good; the virus is attacking hardware as well as the programming. I'm beginning to think that this is a lost cause. With a word, I could tell Galvatron the virus is irreversible, and have you destroyed...but then again, this might be a supreme weapon against our enemies." He chortled, typing in some data into his computer. Reaching back over to his workbench, he snatched up a handheld scanner. "Activate system scanner."

_"System scanner activated,"_ a digital feminine voice replied.

"Scan for abnormal patterns in processors and neural net and transmit information to portable dataport via wireless uplink."

The scanner beeped. _"Confirmed."_

Slowly, Mindsurge held the scanner over Soundwave's head, then moved it down the rest of his body, muttering to himself as he did so. When he was finished, he set the scanner back on the workbench and returned his attention to the computer.

"Activate comparison grid with information uplinked from system scanner and stored system files for Decepticon Soundwave," he then commanded to the computer.

Beep. _"Activated. Estimated time to completion: fifty cycles."_

"Proceed," Mindsurge set down the computer with a slight shake to his head. Slag. The comparison wouldn't take so long if Galvatron hadn't destroyed the main computer. Well, it was better than nothing. If this virus could be used to the Decepticons' advantage, then it was worth the investigation.

And, as soon as Rumble and Frenzy returned from their missions, he would study them as well. True, they were infected with the same virus, they were at least still functional as normal, as long as the virus remained dormant in their circuits.

An interesting challenge, indeed.

***

The Four Winds Bar and Grill  
Kethys, Sirius II

A menagerie of sentient, carbon-based, silicon-based, what-have-you, populated the pub, and not surprisingly: it was the Sirian New Year. Things were bound to be festive.

Drez, the establishment's owner, a large lupine with steel grey fur and a long scar from brow to muzzle running on the right side of the face, was enjoying the bustle of business. As long as the orders came in and the tabs paid, he was happy.

Out in the corner, far from the real din of the place, an area set aside for the much larger sentients like Rokkans and Cybertronians, one sat, though unnoticed by everyone.

He glanced at the door, waiting for his contact...waiting for word...

She finally arrived, a seemingly androgynous Cybertronian in black and orange, tall and sleek with a musclecar alt mode; however, in truth, it was complex transector hiding her species of origin, striding to the bar and putting in an order. He watched her pick up the drink, nod Drez a thanks (he also knew those two were on very close terms), and head his way, her gait confident and experienced as she approached in her confident stride.

Pulling a up chair, she dragged it over to the darkened corner, placing it next to the bench he sat upon; placing the drink in front of the shadows, she then sat, straddling the chair, her head on her crossed arms as she looked into the darkness.

"Heard about the chip yet?" She hissed suddenly.

"Of course," he stated in a low rumble.

"Good. Unicron's back in the picture, then. Meaning, the Quints should resurface soon."

"When and where?"

"Not sure, Ritter." She shook her head. "All I know is that we're on the verge of Anti-Balance here. I know that doesn't concern you, but it does concerns me." She pulled out a portfolio from a compartment at her side and undid the fastenings. Extracting a small stack of black and white photos, she spread them out on the bench in front of her. "Do you know any of these Cybertronians?"

He glanced down at what she presented him.

"Is this a trick question?" he point casually at the one furthest from him, "You know Artemis just as well as I do. A pity what happened to her..."

"She was the one who stole the chip from the Portland Polytech lab on Sol III," the human stated. "We lost contact with her. What happened to her?"

"Galvatron shot her. Last I heard, the Autobots have her in custody."

"I see..." She glanced towards the other bartender, a royal blue and silver Decepticon with rust trim and a darkened optic, then returned her attention towards the shadow. "And the others?"

"How did you manage to get this close to this guy?" Ritter held up the next photo between his thumb and forefinger. "Starscream isn't exactly known for giving photo opportunities."

"My sources. You know him as well?"

"Yeah; dead."

"I know." She winced. "This is not good. Damn!"

"What's so special about these two, anyway, Minerva? Art's got her perks, true, but Screamer was nothing but a pain in the afterburner from what I heard about him."

"Something dealing in the hierarchy of multiversal affairs," she growled. "Something I was supposed to take care of. Shit!"

"That bad?"

"It didn't help the fact that Unicron decided he wanted to make his presence known. The Lithoneans didn't stand a chance." She sighed heavily, her eyes disenchanted. "Unicron wasn't under orders, either. Chaos knew nothing of his plans, let alone Law. And don't even wonder what Grey thought, those obnoxious pricks. The Autobot artifact...the Matrix...might have destroyed Unicron's form, but he still lives..." With a sharp exhale, she shook her head, clenching her fist tightly.

"You're right; that is nothing of my concern. Just tell me if you have any news on the Quintessons, Minerva."

"Since the incident with Cybertron? Rumour: they're setting up base near Proxima Centauri. Fact: A recent Terran probe had found a satellite station on Charon, Pluto's moon, of unknown origin, but has faint similarities to Cybertronian hardware as well as integrated technorganic material. It was taken to Dreamland for further study. Something worth checking out, eh?"

Thank you," he nodded, sinking back into his seat. Minerva collected her photos and placed them back into the portfolio.

"You know why I'm telling you this," she then stated.

"The Quints pose a threat to the Balance; I know."

"This realm is my responsibility, Ritterkruez. I'm not omnipotent, nor omniscient. I require the help of others, like you and Drez. Without that, this realm would fall one way or the other...Chaos or Entropy. Even with that, the scales are going towards Anti-Balance, the Null, the Void. That's one thing I cannot allow."

"This really means nothing to me, Minerva. You gave me your information, I'll tell you what I know." Ritterkruez leaned forward to stare her in the eye, his mirrored visor reflecting her determined stare. "Artemis is not on Cybertron, I know that. Starscream has been incinerated; there's nothing left of him but a pair of charred legs left on the Decepticon Hall of Leaders dais, a reminder to all who want to defy whoever's leader now of what happens to traitors. That's all I know, but I think you know as well as I do she's most likely to rejoin the Autobots. She may work alone for the most part, but she hates not to be around others. This, after all, happens to be one of her favourite spots. And knowing her, she won't stay too long from here."

"Thanks, Ritter. If you excuse me..." she stood, slipping the portfolio back into the compartment. "If you need anything else, you know where to reach me."

"Same goes for you, Minerva. Watch your back."

"Watch your own, Mighty Death."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"There's gotta be more to this," Black muttered, tossing back the shot of whisky. "Doesn't feel complete. Right place...I can feel it!...but...there's gotta be more!"  
>  "Oh, there is, my girl. Much more. There's still another...six or seven stellar cycles?...to go through in this iteration before it merges with Dutiful's."  
> "I...I need to get this off my chest, Mac," Black sighed. "Has there been an iteration where Starscream hasn't screwed up my life?" She gazed into her empty shot glass. "Or rather, is there one where I put my foot down? Or where he doesn't exist?"  
> Mac cocked his head to one side and smiled sympathetically. "To answer your third question first: I'm afraid he is a constant. At least he is not afflicted with Mentus Mutati! That would be...problematic. So! Your first two questions, though, I think you know already."  
> Black gazed up at the ceiling, a circulation fan rotating slowly above their heads. "There's got to be an iteration where I'm actually smart to see through the brittleslag."  
> "He's unimportant, my girl. You have a more important purpose here."  
> "Metroplex." She nodded, cracking her knuckles. "Trypticon. Yeah. So. Six more stels? Okay. Let's keep at it."  
> "Attagirl." The bartender removed the mug and shot glass from the counter and brought them to the sink.  
> "Just...one more question."  
> "I'll answer what I can."  
> "Whose," Brash leaned forward, taking the bottle of whisky Mac had left on the bar top, "smile were you talking about?"  
> _


End file.
